Apostasy, Part I
by Theodore Hawkwood
Summary: A crossover fic with Kingdom Hearts. While conducting counternarcotic operations with the CIA in Mexico, the Joes encounter a serum and its effects. More Joe involvement in later chapters...
1. We Didn't Start the Fire

**We Didn't Start the Fire**

**Disclaimer: I do not own G.I. Joe, Kingdom Hearts 2, or Charmed or any of the other recognizable franchises that will appear in this fic. The character of Bryce Anthony Lightfoot, CIA Special Activities Division, is my creation however.**

**This story takes place around the timeline of my Misfits fics, The Coming of the Foe, Meet the Incredibles, and Facility Kronos. I was inspired by a recent trip to Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure. This ties into my Misfit storyline, taking place at the same time of the story Facility Kronos.**

---

Northern Mexico, 1530 Local Time: The hot sun beat down on the patrol as it snaked through the northern desert. The patrol of a dozen men took a break, sitting hidden in an arroyo sipping water, changing socks, or eating bites of rations.

Lt. Vince Falcone watched the patrol, seeing the Mexican _soldados_ setting up a perimeter, taking turns on the watch and nodded approvingly. So far no signs of any COBRA activity, despite reports to the contrary. After six days into an eight day Long Range Reconaissance Patrol (LRRP) he felt tired and dirty, feeling dirt in every possible fold of his body. He glanced to his left, noticing one of the four CIA paramilitaries that were helping the Joe detachment train soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Mexican Infantry Division's reconnaissance company.

The recon platoon was searching for signs of activity from the Barillo Cartel, thought to have been destroyed Once Upon a Time in Mexico, but apparently rising again. Rumors of some weird creatures lurking in the hinterlands of Northern Mexico and of some bizarre chemical called 'The Serum' together with the sighting of the Dreadnocks had conspired to send Falcon, Duke, and Footloose down to Mexico.

Bryce Anthony Lightfoot sat on top of a large flat rock, his AK-47 rifle less than an arm's length from his right leg, glanced at the G.I. Joe operative named Footloose and nodded in acknowledgement before taking a long slug of water from his canteen. Aside from the ChiCom (Chinese Communist) chest webbing containing his magazines and the AK-47 he resembled any civilian hiker from head to toe, clad as he was in jeans, a gray Salt Life t-shirt and well broken in Montrail hiking boots.

Bryce took a small bottle from his pack as Footloose took a seat on the rock.

"What've you got there, spook?" Footloose asked.

"Some hot sauce I picked up in El Paso before we got down here." Bryce replied.

"Pretty good stuff?" Footloose said.

"Hell, I bet it'll eat a hole through this rock." Bryce joked.

"I only imagine what it's doing to your intestines." Footloose replied.

"I honestly don't want to know." Bryce replied with a low whisper, as he poured the sauce onto the bread and began to eat it.

"Any reason you carry that thing?" Footloose asked, asking about the AK-47.

"The Glocks they gave us for operations down here won't cut it, especially with the firepower the Barillo Cartel's starting to carry around." Bryce replied.

Falcon made a hand signal and Footloose said, "Looks like we gotta get moving again."

"Shit." Bryce grumbled as he hurriedly munched down the rest of his meal.

Footloose grabbed his M203 after refastening his webbing and rucksack. Bryce grabbed his rifle and his own civilian backpack as the patrol began to fall into a column formation, traveling out of the arroyo.

The dense mesquite forest ahead of them provided plenty of cover for the patrol, and for any contacts they might encounter. The point man, Corporal Cruz, with a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands looked around, the tangled brush tearing at his fatigues.

Behind him Bryce kept his thumb on the safety of his AK, waiting to flick the safety to the fire position in case the point man ran into any trouble. In dense terrain such as a mesquite forest, contacts could just jump out at close range. He was glad that Cruz was competent with the weapon, despite the man's small stature and the M500 shotgun's sturdy kick.

Falcon and Footloose, as the other advisors were in the middle and rear of the column respectively. A Mexican second lieutenant, Angel Goya, was technically in command of this patrol. He was standing fourth in the formation, glancing behind him every few steps to make sure that the column was staying together.

Just then Cruz fired his shotgun. "Contact front!"

The patrol dispersed and hit the ground just as a creature that had once been human staggered backward under the impact of a shotgun blast. The creature's eyes glowed yellow, most of the skin on it's body was midnight black and strange black antennae protruded from it's forehead, its hands had formed into strange, twisted claws. A huge hole just below the heart had just been torn in its chest, revealing lacerated viscera. It only sent the creature down to one knee.

Then a deranged howl ripped from the throat of the creature. The creature charged forward. Bryce leveled his Kalashnikov and squeezed the trigger on full automatic, hitting the creature in the head and torso with numerous 7.62mm rounds. The creature shook violently before collapsing to the ground.

"What the hell is that?" Falcon growled.

"The demons we've been facing, _Teniente._" Cruz replied, scanning the mesquite for any more creatures.

_Jesus Christ. _Bryce thought. _A creature that can take a fatal shotgun blast and barely be stopped? Those reports we were getting from the Mexico station were true? _

"Where the hell are these things coming from?" Falcon demanded of the CIA paramilitary officer.

"According to our reports, they're coming from the Barillo cartel hideaways." Bryce replied, as he took the mostly empty magazine from his webbing, and put a new magazine into his AK.

More gunfire, but it didn't come from the patrol. It came from the left of the patrol's position. The patrol fired back.

"Bryce stand by!" Footloose said.

Footloose stood up, running towards the gunfire, Bryce at his heels. Both men took some cover and began firing. Falcon fired a 40mm grenade from his 203, sending a bomb into the midst of two Cartel gunmen, killing them outright.

In pairs the rest of the patrol followed, Cruz and Montoya came next, running, taking positions behind cover and returning fire.

In pairs the patrol advanced, leapfrogging towards the threat, changing magazines on the run, the others providing a base of fire. The fire from the relatively undisciplined Cartel gunmen began to lessen and several of them fled.

"Assault through! Assault through!" Montoya shouted. Immediately the patrol all stood up, weapons at the ready, safeties off, rounds in chambers as they advanced past the enemy position.

"Casualties? Ammo? Equipment?" Falcon called.

Reports came back up the line. Ammo, casualties and equipment were relatively good. A groan sounded just then.

"We got a live one." Footloose began.

Already the patrol was searching the dead gunmen's pockets for documents and money. Falcon inwardly frowned as several of Montoya's men began taking money from the dead Cartel members and stuffing it into their cargo pockets. He made a mental note to chat with Montoya about his men looting enemy corpses later on.

Private Hurtado, the patrol medic, was refusing to treat the Cartel member. The CIA paramilitary, Bryce, was talking to him.

"_Senor _Lightfoot, these people have been terrorizing the area for years. My own parents were forced to give over a percentage of my income to these _pendejos_ every year. Simple farmers extorted for food, vehicles, shelter…" Hurtado replied, "Leave him for the rats."

"Information. We need information, and this prick has to be alive for us to get that information." Bryce replied.

"How much do you think this _bato_ knows?" Hurtado replied.

"Nothing if you don't treat him." Bryce replied, "Whatever we can glean from him will give us information keep these '_pendejos' _from terrorizing your country."

Hurtado grumbled before treating the man, who was a boy no older than sixteen. Bryce made sure the boy's weapon was out of arm's distance.

"_Lo sa _Heartless…" the boy muttered.

"What's he saying?" Footloose asked.

"Let's get ready to travel." Falcon said, as the patrol began to exfiltrate towards friendly territory.

---

At the Mexican army base, Falcon turned to Bryce, "Any intel from that kid we picked up on the patrol?"

"I'm about to interrogate him right now." Bryce replied, as he began to put his AK back together after having cleaned it, "He wasn't in any state to talk, he was muttering about something called Heartless for the trip."

"I'll go with you." Falcon replied.

The two men walked across the compound to the infirmary. The wounded boy lay propped up, an IV in his arm.

"_Buenos noches."_ Bryce began in Spanish, "What was that creature that attacked our patrol?"

"_El demonio…el demonio…" _The boy replied.

"Demon?" Falcon began.

"He was muttering about that the whole trip back." Bryce replied.

"_¿Qué demonio?" _Bryce replied.

The boy groaned in pain. Bryce asked, _"¿De dónde vino el demonio?"_

"_Fue un hombre una vez..." _ The boy replied.

"What?" Falcon asked, his Spanish was a bit rusty, he spent a while at DLI learning Arabic and Afghan dialects, and his Spanish had fallen by the wayside.

"He was saying it was once a man, once human." Bryce replied.

"Who was he?" Falcon asked.

"_¿Quién fue él?" _Bryce asked.

"_El tomó el suero..._" The boy replied.

"He took something called the Serum." Bryce replied.

"What is the serum?" Falcon asked.

"_¿Qué es el suero?" _Bryce asked the boy.

"_El suero hace a hombres en demonios._" The boy asked.

"Whatever this serum is it turns men into demons." Bryce replied.

"Where does this serum come from?" Falcon asked.

"_¿Dónde viene este suero de?" _Bryce asked.

"_Puedo no...Ansem me matará..._" The boy began.

"Ansem?" Falcon asked, "Who is Ansem?"

"_¿Quién es Ansem?" _Bryce asked.

"_Puedo no...Ansem me matará..._" The boy repeated, with more emphasis.

"What…" Falcon began.

"He can't say, Ansem will kill him." Bryce replied.

"Tell him he's safe from Ansem here." Falcon replied.

"_Usted es Ansem a salvo de aquí._" Bryce replied, trying to reassure him. Meanwhile Falcon was writing the word Ansem with a big question mark on his notepad.

"_Yo no soy Ansem a salvo de dondequiera...Yo no es a salvo del Cártel pero Ansem_." The boy replied.

"He's scared shitless of this Ansem guy, that's all I'm getting out of him. He's less afraid of the Cartel knowing he's talked to us." Bryce began.

"Tell him we'll protect him from this Ansem." Falcon replied.

"_Nosotros le podemos proteger de Ansem._" Bryce translated.

"_Nadie me puede proteger. ..No que uno puede proteger usted cuando Ansem quiere matado._" The prisoner insisted, "_Por favor no me pregunte ya pregunto. He dicho demasiado._"

"He's claiming that no one can protect him, that if Ansem wants him dead he's as good as dead. He's not talking." Bryce replied.

Falcon was about to reply when the boy let out a strangled gasp and arched his back. "Medic!" Falcon shouted.

Antennae appeared in the boy's forehead, his eyes began to glow yellow as his skin began to become black as night. His body shrunk to about four and a half feet. Standing atop the table a Heartless stood, its claws extended, ready to leap towards the two men.

Instantly Bryce drew his Glock 17 9mm handgun and began shooting steadily, hitting the creature between the eyes, just above where its nose used to be and the throat and chest. The Heartless lay dead, black blood oozing from half a dozen wounds.

"What the hell!?" Bryce demanded, his smoking Glock still aimed at the Heartless, in case the creature were to rise and kill him.

"Ansem." Falcon replied, "Whoever he is. Somehow the kid was right."

Sometime later, when Falcon had headed to the radio room to contact the states and Bryce had already transmitted his report to Langley, the latter wandered out into the compound with his backpack, rifle, and webbing.

"God damn it." Bryce grumbled and kicked a nearby stone. _He was a goddamn kid, a teenager. Someone whose worries should've included school and what that cute girl in math class thought about him. He of all people didn't deserve to be dead._

"Can't win 'em all, kid." Tucker Robertson said as he came around the nearest corner. A former Navy Operation's Specialist, the salt and pepper bearded Tucker was one of Clandestine Services most aggressive field commanders.

Bryce bristled. He resented being called kid, being just shy of his twenty-ninth birthday. "I thought we were getting closer to where this damn Serum is coming from, or how they synthesize it. For once we got a live prisoner."

"But he turned into a Heartless, I know." Tucker said, "I could hear you killing it."

"I'm going to go walk around the perimeter." Bryce said, "I need to clear my head."

"See me when you get back." Tucker said.

Bryce nodded as he walked the perimeter of the camp, nodding in acknowledgement at two Mexican soldiers that passed him. He kept walking while keeping the fence line, a twelve foot high chain link fence with several spools of barbed wire on top of it, in sight.

Bryce walked past an area he knew was a blind spot for the two guard towers, checking for any signs of excavation or attempts to infiltrate the perimeter.

"Good evening." Came a voice.

Bryce turned suddenly and saw a man wearing a bluish black suit jacket and trousers with a white collared shirt with the top button unbuttoned and no tie. "Who the hell are you?" Bryce demanded.

"Bryce Lightfoot, right. Or is it Bryce Anthony Lightfoot." The man said.

"Did Langley send you over here?" Bryce demanded.

"No, I have no connection whatsoever with the Central Intelligence Agency, or any of maybe a dozen other agencies on your mind right now." The man replied.

Bryce was about to reply when the man replied, "How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. Cole Turner…"

"And who do you work for, Cole Turner?" Bryce replied, "And if Langley didn't send you, how the hell do you know my name?"

"I don't work for the Cartels either, Mr. Lightfoot." Cole replied, "But I know you quite well. You work for the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, you've been an operator for a year. Before that you spent five years in the U.S. Army with the 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One. Your last billet was a company commander. Though I can't quite fathom why a Navy man would want to join an Army unit."

"That's enough." Bryce began, reaching for his rifle.

Cole acted as if the AK wasn't pointed solidly at his center of mass, "Before that you spent two years in the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer, two very unfulfilling and frustrating years after graduation from the Naval Academy…"

Bryce tried not to let the fear show. Whoever this Cole guy was, his information was damn good, almost a hundred percent accurate. "How'd you find that out? That's not exactly common knowledge." Bryce replied. _Almost my ass, its almost as if he's known me my whole life. _

"Let's just say I have more than a little knowledge about you and leave it at that." Cole replied.

"Your sources are good. I'll have to remind Langley to look for a mole or two." Bryce challenged.

"My sources aren't at Langley. They're in fact far superior to anyone Langley can bring up." Cole replied.

"Who, or what the hell are you?" Bryce replied.

"Go ahead and ask your superiors to look for a mole at Langley…" Cole said, in a somewhat dangerous tone, "If you survive the task before you."

"What task?" Bryce demanded.

"In due time, Bryce…" Cole replied, closing his eyes and gesturing, "_Ex is universitas abolesco._"

Bryce's view of the world expanded and contracted, as if the scene before him were some obscene painting stretching and contracting. The world spun crazily before him, spinning like some demented amusement park ride before he blacked out…

---

San Francisco: Samantha Julia Grayson took a cursory glance at what she'd had to wear that day. White satin blouse and a short, and tightly hip-hugging, black skirt with matching black hose and high-heeled pumps. A simple yet tasteful outfit worn in anticipation of dinner with her old college roommates, Amanda Walker and Lauren Callahan, who were flying in later that night. _Not to mention Tyler…_Amanda thought. _God, I haven't seen him since graduation six months ago. _

She thought about Tyler McManaway, finishing out his senior year at North Western University. Lauren and Amanda spilled the beans. Tyler was planning to visit her by surprise, but Lauren accidentally spilled the beans. _God that is so sweet. I'll act surprised and then…Shit, I'm late…Elyse is gonna kill me…_

Samantha grabbed her keys and her black leather attaché bag and practically ran out of her apartment, barely caught the elevator in time, and practically broke every speed limit in the city before she got to the Bay Mirror.

She walked into the building and practically collided with Phoebe Halliwell. "Oh…oh my God, I'm sorry." Samantha stammered as a shower of papers and stationary flew everywhere.

"Feeling a bit rushed." Phoebe said, gently.

"I got a little bit on my mind." Samantha replied.

"I can tell." Phoebe said, remembering that the young woman was the new girl at the place, "Samantha, right?"

"Yeah." Samantha smiled shyly, "Sorry about your papers, I'm in a bit of rush."

"The fashion show?" Phoebe said.

"You know it." Samantha replied.

"You're not late." Phoebe replied, "And besides, I've had my share of near misses around here. Besides, I wasn't going anywhere without you."

"Thanks." Samantha replied, "When do you want to leave."

"As soon as you're ready." Phoebe replied.

"Do you mind if I go to the restroom first?" Samantha asked.

"Not at all." Phoebe replied.

Samantha went to the women's bathroom and turned on the sink. She froze in her steps. Standing behind her was a man, casually dressed, without a tie. "Can I help you?" Samantha asked.

"As a matter of fact you may." Cole replied, "Or can I help you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Samantha Grayson." Cole replied, "Nice outfit by the way, you have wonderful taste, I can see why Elyse had you follow the fashion show. So how does it feel to be the new girl from the Midwest at the big city?"

"OK, you're starting to creep me out…" Samantha began.

Cole acted as though he hadn't even heard her, "You graduated from Northwestern University, six months ago with a degree in journalism. You're seeing their star quarterback, who is flying in with your two old roommates. By the way, I'd dump him if I was you…"

"How do you know all this? Are you stalking me?" Samantha began.

"In a way." Cole replied.

"Listen you, you've got about five minutes before I call security…" Samantha began.

"I don't think a fat old man really poses any threat to me, nightstick or not. Personally I think he carries that stick to compensate for a deficiency." Cole began.

"What do you want?" Samantha began.

"What do I want? A favor." Cole replied.

"I really don't have the time for this…" Samantha replied. _Note to self, try and stomp on his foot if he gets any closer, followed by a knee into the groin._

"Really Miss Grayson, is that any way to treat a new friend." Cole replied.

"Who says we're friends?" Samantha replied.

"Where you're going, I'm the closest thing to a friend you're going to have." Cole began.

"Wait? WHAT!?" Samantha began. Cole put a finger on her lips.

Cole closed his eyes and began chanting, "_Ex is universitas abolesco._"

Samantha felt like she'd been sucker punched in the stomach and simultaneously thrown onto a roller coaster. She felt her stomach rise into her chest, her heart and lungs wanting to invade her neck, her head wanting to fly to pieces before blackness enveloped her.

Just then Phoebe walked into the ladies room. She saw no sign of anyone in there, especially not the new girl. "Samantha?" Phoebe asked.

But there was not a sound to mark the woman's presence. Little did Phoebe know she was not alone in the room. "She that doth teach the stars to burn bright…" Cole said to no-one in particular. Cole knew she would never know he was here. He had developed a way to prevent her from perceiving him through either empathy or premonition.

Phoebe was about to leave when she spied the sink was still on. She touched the spigot to turn it off when she felt a premonition come on.

_She was seeing things through Samantha's eyes, feeling what Samantha was feeling. She could see him, a large, massive fellow, six and a half feet tall, hideously over muscled. He was clad in a pair of torn trousers and the top hat he wore was something straight out of a nineteenth century Victorian romance novel. He lifted Samantha onto one massive shoulder and carried her off…_

"Oh my God…" Phoebe said, with sure fingers she grabbed her cell phone and began to dial a number, "Piper, we have a demon."

"Just great!" Piper could be heard over the line.

"Woo woo woo woo woo!"

"KLONDIKE(1) GET BACK HERE! NOW!"

"Woo woo woo woo woo!"

"First a gray furred wooing menace, and now a demon! What else can go wrong?" Piper asked.

"Piper, I have a feeling you might not want to ask that question." Phoebe replied.

---

"When did you last see him?" Falcon asked.

"Fifteen minutes ago, _Teniente._" PFC Jimnez began, "He was heading to the blind spot in the fence."

"Do you think the Cartels got him?" Pathfinder asked.

"If that was the case, we'd have heard sounds of fighting. Bryce is pretty hard to sneak up on." Tucker replied.

"We'll start a search party; if he's alive we'll find him." Ambush began.

---

_If I had known I was going to be traveling through some bog I'd have worn boots instead of these damn pumps. _Samantha thought as she lifted her foot out of some ooze.

_Where the hell am I? _Samantha thought.

She wrinkled her nose at the scent of the bog. It smelled only slightly worse than the country landfill. As she looked around she heard something moving in the brush nearby.

"Hello?" Samantha said, hoping to God it was a person.

_Things live in swamps, right? Alligators? Crocodiles? Big nasty cats? Great. Less than one week as a reporter and not only am I fired I'm also the swampland's Blue Plate Special…_Samantha thought.

Just then a creature not like anything she'd ever seen before jumped out of the brush, landing where she had just been standing several seconds earlier. It stood about six feet tall, with elongated, thin, yet unmistakably strong arms and legs. Its skin was a pale gray and it didn't seem to have eyes, just a gaping maw of a mouth.

Samantha backpedaled only to run into another creature just like the first. She narrowly avoided being bear hugged by the thing and ran, only to stop just short of a third creature. She was surrounded. Trapped. Three of these strange gray monsters were around her. She did the only thing she could do. She let out a scream, knowing with absolute certainty these gray monsters were going to be the only things that could hear her.

An inhuman roar answered her scream and the monster closest to her was tackled from the flanks by a large, humanoid shape. The thing twisted the monster's neck and Samantha heard the sound of a spine fracturing.

The other two gray monsters attacked the beast that ambushed them. The beast roared and turned and Samantha got her first good, if brief, look. The attacker stood about six and a half feet tall, with mass and musculature that a champion weightlifter would envy and the strength to match. The only article the man wore was a pair of torn suit trousers and the ragged remnants of a suit jacket together with a muddy old top hat. A glowing cigar was clutched between yellowed and crooked teeth.

The gray monsters let out a shriek in unison and charged towards the man. He grabbed one monster by the neck and jammed his cigar into it's face before grabbing the second monster. Their arms and legs wrapped around the strongman like tentacles, but he started tying them in knots and snapping bones, stomping on the head of first one monster and then the other.

"Stay the bloody hell out of my swamp!" The beast yelled with a British accent.

Samantha was too shocked to speak. "Who the–? What the hell…"

"Who the 'ell are you?" The beast demanded.

"Samantha, Samantha Grayson…Thanks for saving me…"

"I wasn't bloody saving you." The beast replied, approaching her menacingly, "I'm warning you, get the 'ell out of my swamp. Property of one Mr. Edward Hyde. I only want to be alone."

"But there could be more of them…" Samantha replied.

"Not my bloody problem." The beast replied, "Now get the 'ell out of my swamp! I've 'ad enough of a problem with those Nobodies…"

"Those what?" Samantha asked, "Please, don't kill me Mr. Hyde, just tell me what the hell is going on, where the hell I am…"

"You're encroaching on me territory, that's what." The beast replied, "You and all the rest are just as bad as those bloody Nobodies I just killed."

"Then help me. Help me get out of your territory and I won't bother you." Samantha replied, "Please…"

"Very well." The beast replied, "Right this way…"

Samantha followed the hulking thing down the path when more of those Nobodies jumped, taking Mr. Hyde completely by surprise. There were more than half a dozen of them, and they pinned Hyde down with their collective weight. A seventh Nobody grabbed Samantha, pinning her against a tree…

Meanwhile Bryce Lightfoot was trying to get his bearings. His GPS wasn't reading anything so he'd thrown it into his Camelbak. He took the compass from his webbing and took out a map. There was not a damned thing here that he recognized and he fought the urge to throw his compass against the nearest tree out of sheer frustration.

He heard the sound of a woman screaming just over nearby hill. He stuffed the map back into it's case, running over the hill. He saw a petite young woman being attacked by a gray contortionist type monster and a hulking mass of a man being attacked by about six more.

Bryce shouldered the AK-47, taking aim at the creature attacking the woman before squeezing off a short burst of gunfire.

Samantha felt the tendrils of the gray monster around her body, wrapping around her, she felt her vision narrow as they wrapped around her neck…_This is it…_

The sound of gunfire could be heard and the pressure around her neck subsided. Grayish blood spattered onto the foliage and the Nobody lay in a pool of its own blood. She saw a man, wearing jeans, a gray t-shirt, and hiking boots, moving down the hill, aiming at the other Nobodies with an AK-47 assault rifle.

His weapon spoke again and another Nobody fell, body punctured by a dozen bullets. The man moved, drew beads on the creatures and squeezed off short, controlled bursts. She heard a click of a chamber emptying as two of the Nobodies that were on top of Mr. Hyde turned towards the gunman.

Bryce saw two creatures heading his way, as the magazine of his AK went dry. There was no time to reload. _Damn those bastards can move. _Bryce thought. He reached to his side with his right hand as he flung the AK, on a tactical sling, aside with his left. He pulled the Glock 17C from the holster swiftly, flicking the safety off as he punched it out in front of him. The creatures were getting closer.

BLAM BLAM BLAM

Bryce sent three 9mm rounds into the chest and head of the first monster, causing it to fall forward and tumble on its own momentum. He shifted his aim point and fired again…

BLAM BLAM BLAM

The second monster took two rounds into the chest and a third into the throat. It fell twitching on the ground. Not skipping a beat Bryce fired a single 9mm round into the center of the monster's forehead, obliterating its brain from less than two feet away.

Meanwhile Mr. Hyde got back onto his feet, a Nobody still tangled around his limbs and torso, it was still clinging to his back. A solution was directly behind him. He ran full tilt, backward into the nearest tree, and crashed against it again and again before disentangling himself and wrapping the Nobody around the tree.

Bryce helped the woman to her feet, "You injured?"

Samantha checked herself, and shook her head, "I'm fine. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Bryce replied.

"Oi! Wanker! Who the bloody hell are you? Get the 'ell out of my swamp!" Hyde demanded, "All I wanted was to be alone, but no, first the lass and now you."

"I was on my way out." Bryce snapped back, aiming his Glock downward, but prepared to bring it up on the hulking beast.

"Get out before you regret it…" Hyde replied.

"As soon as I get my bearings." Bryce replied evenly.

Hyde stepped towards Bryce and shoved Samantha out of the way, ready to pounce. Bryce aimed the Glock at Hyde.

Samantha knew one thing at the moment. She was hot, thirsty, tired, and scared. She was also determined to get the hell out of the swamp. "WILL YOU TWO ACT LIKE ADULTS!" She shouted.

Both men turned.

"That's better." Samantha replied, "Mr. Hyde, it's obvious this guy didn't mean you any harm, he just saved our lives…"

"Oi, I only agreed to help you find your way out of the swamp, not this wanker." Hyde replied.

"And you," Samantha gestured to Bryce, "Thanks for saving us, Mr. Hyde was just a little concerned that you might be a threat."

"Well, be sure to tell your oversized boyfriend I mean him no harm." Bryce quipped.

"First of all, we've only just met. And second of all, he's not my type Mister…" Samantha began.

"Bryce."

"Is that like Cher?" Samantha replied, "Am I supposed to recognize the name Bryce."

"Bryce Lightfoot." Bryce replied, holstering the Glock.

"Samantha Grayson. OK, now we can get to finding our way out of this swamp." Samantha replied.

"Sounds good to me." Bryce replied, "It looks like our friend might know the way out. Think you can lead us out of here."

"I'm not turning my back on you for one second, wanker." Hyde replied.

"Likewise." Bryce replied, and gestured towards the swamp, "After you."

"No, after you." Hyde replied.

Samantha busily dug into her handbag and took out a penny. "Call it. Heads or tails."

"Heads." Bryce began, as he reloaded his AK-47 and chambered a round.

"Tails." Mr. Hyde replied.

Samantha flicked the coin into the air and it landed on the ground. Tails. "It looks like you're leading us, Bryce."

Bryce didn't say anything as Hyde pointed in a direction. He immediately began to get moving, dodging around trees and fallen logs with almost monkey-like swiftness.

"Will you slow down, not all of us are commando types." Samantha said.

Mr. Hyde hung back, keeping an eye on the two newcomers. His eyes moved to the female of the pair. _Such a lovely lass. 'aven't seen one of those in a long time, since I decided to go into isolation. It would be so easy to just grab her and take her deep into the thickets. The bloke in front won't even be able to react in time._

Another voice insisted in Hyde's head. _But you went into this swamp for the sole purpose of avoiding problems with mankind. You promised all you would do was lead them out of this swamp._

_What the hell do you know? This is our swamp, and nobody knows these two are even around. Just kill the bloke and take that little strumpet..._The first voice insisted.

_No. She's a lady, not a common whore to take advantage of. Leave her be._ The second voice argued.

Grumbling, Mr. Hyde continued to lead the newcomers out of the swamp until they reached what looked like an Arabian bazaar built upon crumbling ruins.

"Where the hell is this place?" Bryce asked.

"How the hell should I know?" Hyde began.

"Look all I know is some ass clown sent me here…" Bryce began.

"Ah, I thought you two would never make it out of the swamp." Cole began.

"YOU!" Bryce and Samantha declared simultaneously and Bryce leveled his assault rifle at Cole, squeezing the trigger. The bullet passed right through him, as Cole put his hand on his mouth in an exaggerated yawn.

"What the hell are you?" Bryce asked.

"As I said, someone not of your world." Cole began, "Pretty impressive for a quote 'ass clown' unquote."

"Where are we?" Samantha asked.

"You're currently on the outskirts of Mr. Hyde's swamp, near the Port of Entry for the Five Islands." Cole began, "Not the most agreeable creature alive."

"At least my hideousness is on the outside, not on the inside, Belthazor!" Hyde snapped.

"Must we bring up the unpleasant past?" Cole replied.

"Past?" Samantha asked, "You two know each other?"

"More like acquaintances." Cole replied, "I fulfilled your wish, Mr. Hyde, to be removed from humanity…"

"A fat lot of good that did!" Hyde replied, "You send these two into the middle of my swamp, and those bloody Nobodies!"

"The lady and the right wing gunslinger were sent into your swamp by me, yes. The Nobodies. No." Cole replied.

"Why should we believe you?" Samantha replied, "You kidnapped us…"

"For a good reason." Cole replied as the trio headed into the bazaar, which seemed empty of all life.

"And what would that good reason be, hmm…" Bryce demanded.

"First of all, you've already determined you can't kill me. Second of all…ah speak of the devil." Cole began.

A specter came from behind a crumbling stone wall. It was a woman, fair complexioned, with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing garments that identified her as a courtesan of Medieval Arabia.

"I am Scheherazade, the Guardian of the Five Islands. I assure you, Mr. Hyde, Bryce, Samantha, neither I nor Cole means you any harm." Scheherazade began, "But we need your help."

"And what help do you need?" Samantha asked.

"Your world is beset by a great evil – Monsters that consume the hearts of men." Scheherazade replied, "Bryce, you have seen them."

"There were reports of heart devouring beasts in Mexico." Bryce began.

"And you, Samantha, you have heard someone talk about a pair of glowing eyes they saw in an alley in San Francisco." Scheherazade replied.

"What does all that have to do with us being sent here?" Bryce asked.

"Great evil is afoot on your world. We have brought you to the source of that evil…" Scheherazade replied.

"And for what reason?" Bryce asked, "Surely you don't want us to fight it…"

"No. Knowledge is power, Bryce. You should know that, given your line of work…" Scheherazade began.

Samantha glanced at Bryce with a questioning look. Bryce simply shrugged.

"We want you to gather knowledge, for it will help your world to repel the Heartless and the Nobodies." Scheherazade replied.

"Heartless?" Samantha asked, "I know what the Nobodies are because Mr. Hyde told me, but what are the Heartless?"

"If one such as you, Samantha, yields to the darkness in your heart, you will become a Heartless." Scheherazade replied, "The Heartless are always lurking, always seeking to capture new hearts. Beware."

"What about Nobodies?" Bryce asked.

"If a being with a strong will yields to the darkness, the empty shell left behind develops a will of its own." Scheherazade began, "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away, a spirit that lives on even as its body fades away. That is a Nobody."

"The most powerful of the Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII, and it is they who ravage the Islands." Scherazade continued, gesturing out to the shore where fog hung heavy, but thinned in patches.

"The Five Islands are five worlds. Each of which contains something of value to Organization XIII." Scheherazade replied.

"It is Organzation XIII that is behind the Serum whose victims you keep encountering in Mexico." Cole added.

"So what are we here to do? Even if we learn everything about this Organization XIII, nobody will believe us when we get back to our world." Bryce replied.

"A great sage wrote reports, containing information on the Organization. We hid them on the Five Islands, with Scheherazade as a guardian. Find the reports and you can return home…" Cole replied.

"So where are we going first?" Samantha said, "And how will we get there?"

"To the North a Lost Continent lies ravaged by a New Evil." Scheherazade replied.

"How you get there, is up to you." Cole replied.

Cole and Scheherazade disappeared then. There was nothing there. Not a sound. Only the wind howling through the alleys and the sand blowing around the bazaar could be heard.

"Wait, Cole said this was a port, right?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah." Bryce replied.

"Well if this is a port, there's got to be a boat somewhere, right?" Samantha asked.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been trading here for a while though." Bryce replied, "But it's worth a shot."

The trio headed down for the dock, "Where do you think you're going?" Bryce asked Hyde.

"If I'm to be left alone, I might as well tag along on this mad quest so I can get some peace and quiet in me swamp later…" Hyde replied.

On the dock was a boat. It looked like a white tour boat with a covered top. "I might've known…" Bryce grumbled.

"She said islands, Bryce, how do you expect to get from island to island, swimming?" Samantha quipped.

The trio boarded the boat and Bryce searched around the control console for the keys, finally finding them and starting the motor. Bryce pushed the throttles backward and said, "Take those lines onto the boat."

Samantha and Hyde complied and the boat began to back up into the basin. Bryce turned the boat north and started the engine. The trio started on their quest for the reports and their passage home…

---

TBC

---

1 Klondike, my OC Mountaineer's dog. He first appeared in the Misfit fic I'll be Doggone…


	2. The Lost Continent

**The Lost Continent**

**Disclaimer: Same as before. **

**Happy New Year to those who braved the first chapter, here is Apostasy Part I's second installment.**

**RFKC, Mr. Hyde hails from the Robert Lewis Stevenson novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." **

**This was inspired by the Lost Continent World at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure. **

---

An Unknown Location:

"So what is it you require from me, for a quantity of this 'serum'." Major Bummun Hien, a man in his late twenties with intense almond eyes and a shaven skull clad in the uniform of the North Korean People's Army, asked. His tone implied that the project would be a waste of time.

"I require some of your troops to assist me in a project of some importance." Cobra Commander replied, "I am told you Black Dragon organization is an elite among North Korea's Intelligence community."

"That is correct." Hien replied.

"Then they should be up to the task I have in mind. Several of my vipers will assist them." Cobra Commander began.

Graydon Creed snorted derisively, "Incompetents working with militant fanatics. A certain failed enterprise."

"If I'm not mistaken, Syndrome demands a certain number of your followers as well." Cobra Commander hissed vehemently.

"I volunteer." Duncan Matthews began.

"No, Mr. Matthews." Creed replied, "I have another use for you now."

"But…" Duncan protested.

"Not another word." Creed replied.

"Again, I ask what this task you have for my men is." Hien asked, "I have every reason to be doubtful of your ability to fulfill your end of the bargain, after all, COBRA's glory days have since passed."

Cobra Commander glared death and daggers at the North Korean officer. The North Korean simply stared right back at the Cobra tyrant.

"There are five islands. On these five islands lurk things of use to my organization, things we are willing to pay handsomely for." Cobra Commander replied.

"What things?" Hien demanded.

"I daresay, that with what we find on the islands, North Korea will finally be able to repay the wrongs inflicted by her southern kin." Cobra Commander hissed.

Creed snorted derisively again as Cobra Commander continued his spiel, "And I'm certain the Black Dragon organization will gain a good amount of prestige and power, and possibly even rule over a newly united Korea…"

"I'm listening…" Hien replied.

---

"So what do you do in the real world?" Samantha asked Bryce as the boat cut through the waves, on the bearing Scheherazade had given them.

"Wot do you mean real world, luv?" Hyde asked.

"I meant where I come from, and where Bryce comes from." Samantha asked.

_Even if we're the only people here. Even assuming she's from my world, I can't exactly tell her I'm a CIA paramilitary officer. _Bryce thought, as he stared ahead.

"Bryce?" Samantha asked, "What do you do? Are you some kind of soldier? A mercenary?" Samantha asked.

_Not too far off the mark, lady._ Bryce asked, "What do you do?"

_Nice try, going for the Socratic approach, answer a question with a question. _Samantha thought, and then said, "I'm a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Mirror. But what do you do? I mean that was some excellent shooting…"

"I test off road vehicles." Bryce replied.

"I take it they teach you how to kick ass and take names as a test driver." Samantha asked.

"I was in the Army for about seven years, that's where the weapon proficiency comes from." Bryce replied.

"Oi, I 'ate to interrupt the 'get to know you' part, but I think were coming up on that island." Mr. Hyde began.

Indeed, the shape of the Lost Continent began to grow more and more distinct as the boat cut through the fog. "Look for a place to tie up the boat." Bryce began, "Also look out for rocks; I don't want to run us aground."

The boat continued along the coast of the Lost Continent until Mr. Hyde pointed at a dock. Bryce moved the boat in alongside it and they tossed the lines onto ancient and weather beaten rusty cleats. Samantha stepped off the boat only for her foot to go clean through the rotting boards of the dock.

"Some dock!" Samantha remarked as Bryce and Mr. Hyde helped her up. The trio continued off the dock, down a trail until Bryce raised a hand.

"What?" Samantha whispered.

Bryce gestured towards an area near the dock. Patrolling nearby were two men in military garb, they were Asian with brown uniforms, carrying AK-47 assault rifles and communist chest webbing. "North Korean regulars." Bryce remarked.

"How can you tell?" Samantha whispered.

"The AKs and the chest webbing are my first clue," Bryce replied sardonically, "The caps with the red stars are another clue, and so are the brown uniforms."

"How do you know this?" Samantha asked.

"In the Army they trained us about possible forces we could face. And that included North Koreans. And what the hell they're doing here I can't imagine." Bryce replied, "Not to mention how they got here."

"Maybe Cole sent them?" Samantha asked.

"I doubt the North Koreans would want to share the Ansem reports with us." Bryce replied.

"If they can come here, then we can go back, using whatever they used to get here." Samantha reasoned.

"Yeah, but how do you propose to do that." Bryce replied, "Go up to them and ask if we can borrow whatever they used to come onto this world?"

Bryce regarded her from head to toe, "They'll likely kill me and Mr. Hyde if they catch us. And I really don't want to mention what all those lonely men, who've never seen a Western woman except maybe in movies, might want to do to you."

Samantha gaped at Bryce astonished. "Hey, no one said war was a pretty business." Bryce replied.

"This could be valuable intelligence…" Bryce whispered, "Do you have a camera?"

Samantha nodded, biting back a remark. _Some test driver. What are you, some kind of government agent? _

She silently extracted a small digital camera from her purse. She snapped one picture, then another. Then one of the NKPA regulars stopped in his tracks, hearing the familiar sounds of a camera shutter engaging.

"Damn it." Bryce grumbled. Samantha stopped taking photos, as Bryce gently moved the safety selector switch on the AK-47 from safe to automatic fire to make sure there wasn't an audible click.

The two regulars began to crouch low, to minimize silhouette, switching the safeties on their weapons from safe to auto. They began to sweep the surrounding area with their weapons and one of them gestured. A trio of Nobodies appeared beside them.

The searchers were moving in the general direction of the trio, and Bryce whispered, "Not a sound. I don't think they've zeroed in on us yet. Move silently towards those griffin statues…"

Bryce alternated the safety catch from automatic to single fire, ammunition wasn't at its highest, and he only had three full magazines of ammunition for his AK. He had two full magazines for the Glock and two mostly empty magazines.

Crack! Samantha's foot stepped on a dry twig.

One of the North Koreans snapped off a burst of gunfire, bullets zinging uncomfortably close. "Go! Keep moving! I'll draw their fire!" Bryce replied, snapping off several rounds in reply towards the North Koreans.

Samantha stared at him for a moment. "Go! Damn it!" Bryce replied, taking cover behind a pile of stones, shooting towards the North Koreans. Bullets whizzed uncomfortably close, several 'snapping' sounds of close passing rounds were evident.

The North Korean regulars were obviously professionals, Bryce could tell. They weren't just running blindly at him, firing on full automatic like several third rate conscripts did. They were finding cover, shooting, and changing magazines on the run, making themselves moving and difficult targets.

They were shooting close to him, making Bryce keep his head down, advancing steadily. He hoped to God Samantha had enough sense to get as far away from the gunfight as possible. Bryce returned fire, shooting short, controlled bursts. He lined one of the running NKPA soldiers in his sights aiming just before a large rock that the man was going to use as cover. He squeezed off a burst, causing the North Korean soldier to tumble into the dust, dead.

The other regular fired a long burst and then ran towards a fallen column, running towards grenade range. He tossed a grenade at Bryce who kicked it into a ditch where it harmlessly exploded.

Bryce drew a bead on the other North Korean, he was the greater threat. The Nobodies were fairly easy to dispatch, provided he kept track of them. Where the hell were those bastards? _First things first, dispatch that NKPA prick…_

The North Korean regular had reloaded his AK and was aiming it at Bryce when Bryce felt a pressure around his neck, as an elongated limb wrapped itself around his throat.

A deranged roar echoed through the air as Hyde leapt on top of the Nobody's arm, breaking it. Hyde began to charge after the Nobodies, roaring, winding the first Dusk's arm around a pillar. He grabbed the creature's other arm and wound it around another column. He picked up a large rock and launched it, smacking another Dusk with a bowling ball sized stone.

Bryce recovered his Kalashnikov, bullets whizzing by, uncomfortably close. He aimed at the muzzle flash he saw and fired off a burst. The other NKPA regular hit the ground, several rounds having torn into his center of mass. Bryce saw that Mr. Hyde had already dispatched two of the Nobodies.

"Where the hell are the other three?" Bryce asked.

Just then, a strange sound could be heard. Bryce turned to see one of the Nobodies heading towards him, flying through the air, almost floating. Bryce fired a burst from his AK, most of the rounds missing, but a couple rounds winging the Dusk, sending it to the ground. Hyde promptly crushed its head with both of his feet.

Meanwhile Bryce fired another burst of gunfire, spraying a Nobody with several bullets from less than twenty feet away.

"ARROOO!!!!" Hyde roared as he lobbed a heavy stone at another floating Dusk. The Dusk dodged the thrown rock.

The creature dove at an angle towards Hyde at top speed, colliding and the two went down, grappling. With a savage roar, Mr. Hyde twisted the beast's neck before brushing himself off and picking up his top hat.

"Between his howling and you shooting everything that moves its amazing the whole Organization doesn't know we're here." Samantha quipped as she came out of hiding.

Bryce grunted a reply as he began to take several AK magazines off of one of the North Korean regulars he had just killed, He now had seven full magazines plus the half full magazine on his webbing. In addition he took two grenades off the dead soldier.

"We'd best get moving, someone will have heard that." Bryce remarked.

"That's what I just said." Samantha remarked, as the three of them wandered further inland.

---

"You three, search the arroyo to the north." Falcon said, "If he's alive, we'll find him."

Pathfinder came back to the cluster of Joes, CIA paramilitaries and Mexican officers and non-coms. The desert tracker had a frustrated expression on his face.

"Any sign of him?" Tucker asked.

"None at all." Pathfinder said, "Aside from his footprints near the blind spot in the fence, I didn't see a damned thing, except for a pair of footprints from a size 10 or 11 dress shoe…"

"Who wears dress shoes in a combat zone?" Ambush asked, brushing his red sideburns.

"Maybe it's from one of the CIA guys." Pathfinder asked, "It didn't look like there was any sign of a struggle over there, it was almost as if Lightfoot vanished into thin air."

"Have you guys run into things like this before?" Tucker asked Falcon.

"Among other things." Falcon replied, laconically, "Ancient civilizations trying to take over the world, giant bugs, demons…OW."

Pathfinder nudged Falcon, "Ix nay on the demonae…"

"Chuckles," Falcon began, inwardly rubbing his sore side from Pathfinder's elbow nudge, "Get on the horn to the Pit and ask them if any disappearances like this match anything in the archives."

The blond CIA operative attached to GI Joe nodded and headed to the tin communication's shack.

---

"He was at Panmunjeom with me for five years." Bummun Hien began as he grasped the dead soldier's hand, "Find and kill whoever did this or you will lie beside him."

"Yes sir." A regular replied.

"Sir," another soldier called out, the soldier standing near the second corpse, "This man's magazines are missing."

"It would appear we have a problem with infiltrators on this island." Hien replied, "Tell our COBRA and Friends of Humanity 'allies' on this island that we have a problem with rats."

---

"Where do we begin this search?" Samantha asked.

"I have no idea." Bryce replied.

"Oi, we'd best get ou' o' 'ere before those Nobodies or those 'North Korean' blokes find us." Hyde remarked.

"Those ruins over there should provide some cover." Bryce replied, gesturing towards a large hand made of stone with a trident clutched in it.

Bryce raised a hand just then, and they stopped. He gestured towards a cluster of rocks. The three hid as a creature came walking by their position.

Samantha felt her blood turn to ice as she gazed at the thing. Two antennae protruded from its head. Most of its skin was as black as tar, contrasting with the white of its human skin. One eye glowed a shade of yellow, the other was a clear blue. The thing, Samantha wasn't even sure it was human anymore, lumbered by and she could see a single tear forming in the blue, human eye. One arm was normal, the other ended in a twisted black claw.

The creature lumbered by. "Half-Heartless…" Hyde remarked, "When someone surrenders to darkness, they begin to transform into Heartless. Sometimes the descent into darkness is swift. Other times they lose their humanity piece by piece…"

"So that thing…it was…human…" Samantha began, "Oh my God."

"I'd love to get my hands on that Ansem prick's throat and squeeze." Bryce replied.

"Be wary, Mr. Lightfoot, all is not what it seems." A voice said.

Bryce turned, aiming his AK at a figure in red robes, his face concealed by red strips of cloth, trailing a red cape behind him.

"Who the hell are you?" Bryce asked.

"A friend perhaps. Or an enemy. You may never know." The figure said.

"Are you with Scheherazade? Or Cole?" Samantha asked.

"That remains to be seen." The figure replied, "In Poseidon's temple is where you may find that which you seek."

"Returning to my original question, who the hell are you?" Bryce demanded.

"DiZ, or Darkness in Zero, is who the hell I am…to put it in your own terms." DiZ began.

"Either way, if I see Ansem, I'll kill him." Bryce replied.

"The incident with that boy in Mexico was most unfortunate." DiZ replied, "You will discover, however, that things aren't what they seem."

"Mexico? Boy?" Samantha asked, "What is going on here?"

"I believe Mr. Lightfoot can answer that question better than I." DiZ replied, as he disappeared into the fog.

"So spill it Bryce, what do you really do? Are you some kind of Special Forces guy?" Samantha asked.

"No, I am an Army officer turned civilian. I work for Vaquero Security Enterprises," Bryce replied, using one of his cover stories, "With some recent instability in the region, we were hired to train security personnel guarding the silver mines in Mexico."

"That explains the fact that you're practically Buffalo Bill reborn with those guns." Samantha replied.

"Oi, let's discuss this later." Hyde replied, "Then I can go back to my swamp in peace."

_How easy will it be to simply crush Lightfoot's skull…_Hyde thought. However, the Jekyll inside him began to fight it down. Sure the strange gunman annoyed him, but he wasn't about to go and murder him for irritating him.

Hyde trailed behind the two other humans as they headed towards the stone hand with the trident in it.

"That would be our best guess for Poseidon's temple." Bryce began, "After all he was the ancient sea god."

"I did take classical literature when I was at North Western, Bryce." Samantha replied.

_Good thing she's not just another pretty face. _Bryce thought. _But she's such an innocent about everything…_

"Good thing you're not another pretty face." Bryce began.

Despite herself, Samantha smiled, "Are you flirting with me?"

"What do you think?" Bryce replied, with a tired grin of his own.

"I think that you're going nowhere, because I'm already taken." Samantha replied, "But I'll give you credit for the nice try."

"Thanks." Bryce replied, with an ironic grin.

_Hah, turns out you're no better for her than I am, wanker. _Hyde thought._ Where is this jealousy coming from? And what makes you think a lovely young lady like her would ever be attracted to a malformed beast like you anyway…especially knowing what you did in London._

The trio came upon a ruined building, crumbling stone façade, parts of statues lying in a nearby fountain of clear water. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the temple of Poseidon." Bryce began, in a mock professorial tone.

They walked inside the temple, and it was immediately obvious that the place wasn't uninhabited. A couple signs with the words Global Discovery Group written on them were placed at random locations.

"Looks like an archaeological dig." Bryce remarked.

"What tipped you off, soldier boy, the signs or the picks and shovels?" Samantha quipped. _Amanda would love this place. _Samantha thought, thinking of her old college roommate and best friend.

"Hey, I came from the Army, where the obvious was always stated for us." Bryce replied.

"I wouldn't point that weapon everywhere. You might give some volunteer a heart attack." Samantha remarked.

"With what we've seen lately, I don't think we'll be running into too many volunteer archaeologists." Bryce replied.

As they passed through the ruined halls of the temple a radio on a table near a wall began to emit a burst of static followed by a garbled transmission, "Get out of the temple! If you can hear my voice, get out of the temple!"

"I think we should get out of here." Samantha said.

"Be my guest, if you like spending the rest of your life on some Atlantis look-alike of an island." Bryce replied.

"OK, but if we wind up turned into stone, or mummified, or something I'm blaming you." Samantha replied.

"We won't have to worry about mummification, only Ancient Egyptians did that." Bryce replied.

As they continued down the hall they were nearly run down by a bespectacled young man in khaki, with red hair.

"HALT!" Bryce shouted, aiming his weapon.

"Will you put that thing away!" Samantha began.

"And you call me uncivilized." Hyde remarked.

"Who are you?" Bryce asked.

"My name's Taylor, I'm an archaelogy intern with Professor Baxter, Princeton University's Ace of Archaeology…"

"Bryce Lightfoot. Sorry about the gun, we've been having encounters with some pretty nasty characters of late…" Bryce replied.

Hyde belched loudly just then as he munched on a submarine sandwich an archaeologist left on a table. "You mean him?" Taylor asked.

"No." Bryce replied.

"Who are you guys?" Taylor asked.

"Samantha Grayson. Listen, we were taken to this island by this strange guy named Cole and then this strange guy called DiZ told us what we were looking for could be found here in the temple of Poseidon."

"I wish Professor Baxter were around," Taylor began, "He could tell you guys so much about this temple, he'd be the go-to guy for all this."

"Well, you'll do for now." Samantha replied.

"Where are the others?" Bryce asked, "I don't know that much about archaeology, but shouldn't there be other volunteers or scientists or…"

"I don't know, they just disappeared when I was on a lunch break." Taylor began.

"They didn't take their food with them…" Hyde replied, "Which is a good thing, I'm hungry."

Hyde began to gulp down a whole Coca Cola bottle from another lunch bag. "Ah…"

"Well, follow me." Taylor said, giving Samantha a flirtatious smile. He gulped nervously when Hyde glared at him.

"Professor Baxter discovered a secret message of some kind before he disappeared." Taylor continued as they continued into a large chamber.

"Where are we?" Bryce asked, surveying the huge chamber.

"This is the Chamber of Sacrifices." Taylor began, "You see, thousands of years ago a high priest of Poseidon, Lord Darkenon, attempted to seize the power of Poseidon. He used great heart devouring beasts…"

Taylor pointed to the frescoes adorning the walls, several creatures, about three or four feet high, black as midnight, with antennae and glowing yellow eyes were visible. Beside the Shadow Heartless were several spheres with gaping maws and glowing eyes and a trio of tentacle like projections.

"In the cataclysm that followed, all perished. It is said that the spirits of the combatants still haunt this temple." Taylor continued.

"I have a bad feeling about all this…" Bryce remarked.

Another burst of static emitted from the radio that Taylor had picked up, "If you can here me, get out of the temple now!"

Bryce promptly flicked the safety of his weapon off.

"Bryce, I don't think ancient spirits can be killed by bullets." Samantha remarked.

The lights promptly went out. Taylor flicked on a glow rod he had been carrying with him and shined it around the room. Bryce turned on a small tactical flashlight attached to his belt.

Taylor flashed the light around the chamber. Several letters in ancient Greek appeared in a ring around the chamber.

"What does that mean? Is this the hidden message that Baxter found?" Bryce asked.

"I don't know." Taylor replied, "And to translate the message: **'Arise Great Lord Darkenon from the Great Darkness…'**."

"Taylor, I don't think you should…" Samantha began.

The sound of stone grinding against stone could be heard and two things happened simultaneously. First a large stone slab blocked the entrance to the chamber, and another stone slab slid aside to reveal a cobweb filled, dank hidden chamber.

Several Heartless began to flood into the Chamber of Sacrifices. Bryce practically shoved Samantha and Taylor behind him as he began to shoot at the attacking Heartless, with short controlled bursts from his AK-47. He watched with grim satisfaction as three Shadows went down, perforated by multiple 7.62x39mm rounds. More of them were approaching, with more of the Spherical Heartless. Bryce felt the AK click on an empty chamber. He swung the AK to one side and reached for the Glock at his hip, extracting it smoothly and then firing steadily, hitting one Dark Ball with numerous 9mm rounds, causing it to fall, splattering black blood everywhere.

"Bryce! Come on!" Samantha shouted from the hidden chamber.

Bryce continued backward, shooting steadily, killing or wounding Heartless with a barrage of 9mm rounds.

Hyde grabbed Bryce's belt and yanked him inside the chamber as the stone slab slid into place. There were no Heartless in the chamber. However there was also no visible exit, either.

"And whose brilliant idea was this…" Samantha said, taking one glance at Bryce in the glowing light of the glow rod.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Bryce protested, holstering his Glock and reloading his AK with a full magazine.

"Silence all of you…" a voice boomed.

"Wha-?" Taylor began.

"I am Lord Darkenon!"

"Thanks Bryce, you just got us stuck down here with an armor wearing bad guy with bad Darth Maul makeup." Samantha remarked.

"Silence mortal woman!" Darkenon began.

"What do you bloody want?" Hyde demanded.

"I want the trident of Poseidon." Darkenon demanded.

"Well none of us know exactly what that thing is." Bryce replied.

"Then you will remain trapped here for all eternity." Darkenon replied.

"Looks like there's a portal over here." Samantha replied.

"Unless you have about a few hundred pounds of C4 hidden on your body somewhere," Bryce quipped, "I don't think we're going anywhere."

"Hey, guys, I think I've found something we can use as a crowbar…" Taylor said.

"Some crowbar." Samantha began, "That looks like…"

"The Trident of Poseidon." A female voice began.

"Who are you?" Taylor asked.

"I am the Guardian of the Portal to Atlantis."

"This is heavy." Taylor began.

"Can you get us out of here?" Samantha asked.

"I am sorry, but Darkenon's power is too great. I can open the portal into the heart of Atlantis." The Guardian began.

"Wait a second…" Samantha began.

"It's the only way now." Bryce replied.

"Barring the fact that we're stuck down here because of some armor wearing Darth Maul wannabe, how do you plan on getting us out of here?" Samantha asked.

"I guess we'll find the answer in the Heart of Atlantis…" Bryce began.

The portal opened, a massive vortex of water swirled around it. "I guess there's no way to go but forward." Samantha began.

The group walked through the portal and it closed behind them. They followed a massive corridor, surrounded by a vortex of water until it ended.

"Great another dead end." Hyde remarked, "Brilliant idea Bryce. You got us out of that chamber alright and into yet another dead end…"

"At last! Thank you mortals! You have lead me into the chamber of Poseidon…A god powerless without his Trident…" Darkenon's voice sounded, "Heartless, take the Trident from the whelp and kill the mortals."

Bryce began firing bursts of gunfire at the Heartless that appeared in the chamber from his AK as fireballs, forty feet high burst around the chamber. One of them narrowly avoided incinerating Samantha, because Hyde shoved her out of the way.

The trident began to glow with an eerie light of its own, mingling with the muzzle flash of Bryce's weapons as he fired both AK and Glock 17 in rapid succession, gunning down several attacking Heartless.

"Somebody help me!" came a terrified scream. Taylor turned to see Professor Baxter surrounded by a wall of flames.

The trident glowed again, before levitating in midair, towards a section of the wall. Appearing from the darkness came a man, with the tail of a dolphin and the upper body of a muscular man with a flowing white beard and flowing white hair.

"Thank you, Taylor…" Poseidon's voice boomed, "Darkenon, you have learned nothing in almost four millennia trapped in the Great Darkness."

"I have learned one thing, Poseidon." Darkenon replied, sending fireballs towards the sea god, "How to control even more Heartless! How did it feel to know that your followers, your loyal worshippers were all consumed, their hearts forever lost? How did it feel to be a god with no followers?"

A burst of water launched towards Darkenon knocked Bryce against a nearby wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Bryce!" Samantha shouted, running towards him, only to have a fireball burst just in front of her.

The two immortals let fly, fire and water. Hyde threw a Darkball against a cluster of Shadow Heartless, and dodged a fireball.

"This battle is between us, Darkenon." Poseidon said, "Release these mortals."

"Mortals." Darkenon said, "But I rather like a captive audience. Much as I did when your followers watched us battle millennia ago."

"You forget one thing, Darkenon. The Heartless consume the careless. They have been feeding on your black heart for millennia…" Darkenon began and then clutched at his chest, his body shrinking, antennae protruding from his head.

"Now, you five mortals," Poseidon began, "This battle is between us, and I will take you to the surface…"

Poseidon gestured to them and surrounded them in a cloud of mist, bringing them back to the surface.

Bryce regained consciousness right around the time that a trio of COBRA Desert Vipers with a light machinegun opened up on them.

"Take cover!" Bryce shouted.

"Can you shoot?" Bryce asked Taylor.

"I'm a college student." Taylor replied.

"I'll take that as a no." Bryce replied.

Samantha ducked as low as she could behind the altar where all of them were crammed, hiding from the machinegun.

"Samantha, do you have a mirror on you?" Bryce turned to ask her.

"Wait, what?" Samantha asked.

"This is urgent, do you have a mirror?" Bryce asked.

"I'm a girl; of course I have a mirror." Samantha replied, "Why?"

"I need to borrow it for about two seconds." Bryce replied.

Samantha dug into her bag for her compact. "Do not break this…" Samantha asked.

Bryce opened the compact and angled the mirror until he could see the machinegun. "Good…"

"What do you mean good?" Taylor said, "We've got a machinegun firing at us."

"The machine gunner's obviously inexperienced." Bryce replied, "If he keeps shooting continuously he's going to heat the barrel up. If the barrel heats up he's gonna have to change it out. And he's gonna overheat in five…four…three…two…one…"

The gunfire stopped and Bryce promptly ran to the nearest bit of cover he could find, shooting as he ran.

"Is he out of his mind?" Professor Baxter asked.

The two other Cobra Desert Vipers were shooting steadily, their rounds nearing Bryce, who kept moving. Bryce pulled a pin from one of the grenades on his webbing, let it cook off for a second and then lobbed it into the machinegun position.

The grenade exploded, destroying the machinegun. It also set off numerous secondary explosions, blowing up the fuel for the expedition's generator, the COBRA's ammunition, and some excavation charges. The explosion promptly blew a hole in the roof of the temple of Poseidon.

"GAAAHHH!!!!!!" Professor Baxter screamed. The short, potbellied, salt and pepper bearded older gentleman lost all pretense of academic gentility.

"What?" Bryce asked.

"You – you Philistine!" Baxter shouted.

"I saved your life." Bryce replied.

"My greatest find! You blew a hole in the ceiling!" Baxter shouted.

"Well this temple was in ruins anyway." Bryce replied.

"It certainly didn't need you helping it along!" Baxter shouted, "Get out! Get out!"

---

Lauren Shannon Callahan checked her watch. "It's about two-thirty, do you think Samantha's gonna pick us up?"

"I think she said she might not be able to get off work today." Her companion, Amanda Christina Walker replied.

Amanda took her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans and turned it on. She was a slender, athletic brunette, with the build of a cross-country runner, with the classic cute girl next door look. She checked her voice mail messages, nothing.

"Nothing?" Lauren asked, Amanda nodded to confirm.

"This isn't like her. If she was going to be late, she would've called." Lauren continued.

"Well, if she's got a big story to cover, she probably lost track of time. That sounds like the Samantha we know." Amanda replied.

"I have enough for a cab." Lauren said.

"I'd hope so, you being the daughter of two successful Denver surgeons." Amanda replied to her red headed, pale complexioned Irish friend.

"I remember the address to." Lauren replied.

The two women hired a cab, who took them to Samantha's apartment building. "Where do you think Samantha keeps her extra key?" Amanda asked.

"What makes you thing there is an extra key?" Lauren asked.

"Remember senior year, when we threw that huge surprise party for Samantha on her birthday, when she was working late?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, I remember you calling us, from her apartment." Lauren replied.

"Well," Amanda said, with a grin, "how do you think I got inside?"

"I figured you picked the lock." Lauren replied.

"No." Amanda replied, as she searched around Apartment 12A's front door. "Aha…"

Amanda reached underneath a small decorative table with a flower arrangement that adorned the hallway. Underneath there was a key taped underneath with a '12A' tag on it.

The two women entered their friend's apartment, looking for clues. As usual her place was a jumbled mess only Samantha could really decipher. _The more things change…_

Amanda found Samantha's date book and noticed one thing about Samantha's schedule – that she had a story to cover that day, a fashion show.

"I think we should head to the Bay Mirror and see if we can surprise her at work." Amanda said.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, I mean she's probably busy and…" Lauren began.

"Oh come on," Amanda said, "What's the worst that could happen…"

---

"OK, so the Temple of Poseidon didn't lead to anything but a pissing contest between two gods and knowledge that a terrorist group is somehow aligned with these 'Heartless'." Bryce said.

"Well, if someone didn't give the temple of Poseidon a new skylight…" Hyde began.

"Excuse me." Bryce replied, "Who saved your asses out there?"

"OK, next time let's try to do things with as little destruction as possible." Samantha replied.

Ahead of them was a ruined castle. "Try not to give this building a discount remodeling job." Samantha quipped.

"If the bad guys cooperate, I won't fire a shot or toss a grenade." Bryce replied, as they entered the dank and musty remnants of the castle.

"Something tells me the inhabitants of this castle aren't the friendliest blokes." Hyde remarked. Indeed. The skeletal remains of several knights in plate armor were strewn about the place. The knights had either been incinerated, or frozen. Several of the knights were plastered to the walls by several feet of thick ice.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Samantha asked.

"The crispy critters over there." Bryce began.

It was then they heard the sound of a taunting voice: "Turn right for Ice and left for Fire! Now, pick the dragon you desire."

"Dragon? Fire? Ice?" Hyde asked.

"I get the feeling we're not going to like the answers to any of those questions." Bryce replied.

"I think it's a little late to turn back." Samantha observed, as a heavy portcullis closed down behind them.

"The left burns hot, the right turns cold, whichever you chose, you'd best be bold." The voice taunted.

"OK, so there are two dragons here, and somehow we're supposed to choose one?" Samantha asked.

"Past this point of no return, your only choice is to freeze or burn." More taunting.

Samantha was about to say something when a blonde haired man in a hooded black robe stood at the intersection with a blue sitar in his hand.

"Ah, the paramilitary man, the nosy woman reporter, and the swamp hermit Dr. Jekyll. Or should I say Mr. Hyde." Demyx said.

"It doesn't matter, I think you three have a dilemma. Which dragon do you choose? Well, for one of you I will choose the dragon. I believe Miss Grayson might be most comfortable with the Ice Dragon." Demyx continued and he caused several of the frozen armor suits to converge on Samantha.

Bryce started shooting at both the reanimated ice knights and Demyx. The bullets had no appreciable effect on either of them.

The Ice Knights dragged Samantha away, down the corridor, to the claws of the Ice Dragon.

"I guess we'll need fire to stop this prick." Bryce began, as he and Mr. Hyde ran down the hallway, up a stairwell towards a battlement. By the time they reached the top, the Ice Dragon had flown away, with Samatha clutched in its talons and Demyx riding atop its head.

Another dragon, the red Fire Dragon lifted Bryce and Hyde in its talons as it flew off in pursuit of the Ice Dragon. The two dragons flew parallel to one another and Bryce tried to aim his rifle at Demyx. He held his fire. He'd been trained to shoot from helicopters, but that was with a sniper rifle from a hovering helicopter, not with a Russian made assault rifle from a flying dragon.

The dragons split in two different directions.

Samantha felt herself be so nauseated by the spiraling and spinning of the Ice Dragon as it flew away from the Ice Dragon. She could see the Fire Dragon invert as it climbed before it headed leveled off towards the Ice Dragon, spewing fireballs. Demyx urged the Ice Dragon to fly upward, dodging both the fireball and the Fire Dragon.

"Damn we missed!" Bryce shouted.

"What was your first bloody clue!?" Hyde demanded, looking green.

"Don't puke yet, we've got to get Samantha way from that Ice Dragon and that blonde haired fruitcake." Bryce remarked.

"NO ONE CALLS ME FRUITCAKE AND LIVES!!!" Demyx shouted as he heard Bryce's remark.

The two Dragons came within a hairs breadth of each other again, before the Fire Dragon looped upward and then spun around. Then they flew towards each other.

Samantha shut her eyes in terror, sure that the two lizards would collide, the Ice Dragon would let go and she'd fall several hundred feet to her death.

No such thing occurred. Samantha opened her eyes again just as the two dragons both looped upward, belly to belly. Hyde tried to reach out for her, and actually grabbed a hold of her ankle for a brief instant.

The Dragons both dived, to about treetop level, chasing each other, climbing above or diving below one another, corkscrewing and blasting fire or ice at each other. Samantha knew if she didn't try and reach one of the two men on the Fire Dragon she wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

A lucky fire burst from the Fire Dragon clipped the Ice Dragon and reflexively the Ice Dragon let go. Samantha felt herself tumbling through the air, seeing the ground rushing up before her, shutting her eyes for her last few seconds of conscious life.

She wasn't dead. She was airborne again. Clutching her around the ankles was none other than Mr. Hyde.

The Ice Dragon flew off as Demyx shouted, "This isn't the last you've seen of Organization XIII!"

The Fire Dragon alighted, and dropped its three passengers before flying off to parts unknown. "Ah, you've survived the ordeal of the Dueling Dragons."

The three people turned to see a man, with a white beard and long snow-white hair clad in the garments of a medieval wizard.

"I am Merlin. I am here to help you on your quest." Merlin began.

"DiZ a friend of yours?" Bryce asked.

"You could say we are acquainted." Merline replied, cryptically, "A horse of the air, bearing a horn will lead you to that which you seek…"

With that Merlin vanished. "OK, first we get involved in a battle with an Ancient Greek sea god and his bad Darth Maul impersonator priest. Then we get picked up by dragons and taken for a wild ride I'd rather not repeat again. What's next…?" Samantha asked.

"I don't know, but I'm up for round three, to get us out of here." Bryce replied.

---

"So what did you find out, Chuckles?" Tucker asked.

Chuckles handed Falcon a printout of the e-mail he had recently received. Falcon said, "Apparently Lightfoot isn't the only person who's vanished during operations."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"Before I got assigned down here," Falcon replied, "I received word that some members of our team had vanished without a trace."

"Has there been any word on what caused it?" Tucker asked.

"We don't know, yet." Falcon replied, "But we're going to find out."

---

_Greek Gods, Dragons, and now Unicorns. _Samantha thought. _What else does this world have in store for us?_

Bryce gestured for them to halt. "Wot now?" Hyde asked peevishly.

"COBRA." Bryce began.

Indeed two Range Vipers were patrolling around the area. They moved so close to the hiding trio that Bryce was surprised the Range Vipers didn't find them.

"Bang! Ha ha ha ha!" A bearded fellow with some kind of modified goggles and a nasty assortment of rockets attached to his body.

A rocket streaked from his body, flying through the air before blasting a stone statue on top into tiny pebbles.

From the brush, a very startled unicorn flew into the air. "Bang! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Metal Head shouted, firing a rocket at the unicorn.

The rocket exploded several feet away sending a net into the unicorn, causing it to tumble awkwardly from the skies. The Range Vipers headed for the unicorn and began dragging it into the clearing. The creature struggled fruitlessly.

"Where's Mr. Hyde?" Bryce asked.

"He…oh no…" Samantha grumbled.

"AROOOO!!!!" Hyde shouted as he barreled out of the underbrush, lifting Metal Head into the air bodily and then airplane spinning him over his head in a spiral before body slamming him onto the ground like a WWF wrestler.

The two Range Vipers turned to face Hyde. "COBRA!!!!" came another shout.

"I knew those bastards weren't operating alone." Bryce grumbled, "Stay there."

"While you what, pull some insane Rambo stunt?" Samantha asked.

Meanwhile, Hyde was spinning Metal Head by his ankles in a fast circle before lobbing him into the two Range Vipers. He tugged the net off the unicorn and the creature followed him to where Bryce and Samantha were hiding.

The unicorn nuzzled Hyde, licking his fingers. "Eyuck…Unicorn drool…" Hyde grumbled as the Unicorn led the three of them toward their next adventure.

"Hey fellow," Samantha began, smiling despite the situation, "There's something tied around your neck."

Samantha untied the ribbon and out of it fell a small note. On the piece of papyrus were the words: _In the lair of the sorceress Miseria, a princess holds that which you seek…_

"How many more twists and turns could this quest possibly hold?" Bryce grumbled. _The guys at Langley are never gonna believe this…_

---

The unicorn led the three to a cave in a bay on the far shore of the island. Inside the bay were several wrecked ships and skeletal remains of crew members. Two men, dressed like ancient Persians, approached them.

"I am Sinbad." One of them declared.

"Funny, you're as white as my friend's blouse." Bryce remarked. Samantha fixed him with a dirty look.

"And I am Shish Kebab."

"Good, I'm hungry." Hyde quipped.

"Are you one of those strange men of the Far East with the sticks that spew fire?" Sinbad asked.

"If you're asking if we're North Koreans, no we aren't." Bryce replied, "How many of them are there?"

"Twenty of them came ashore two days ago, after our ship was wrecked." Sinbad replied, as his eyes narrowed, "And how do I know that you are not one of their number?"

"They tried to kill us earlier." Samantha replied.

"So why are you here?" Bryce asked Sinbad.

"I am no fool." Sinbad replied, pointing his scimitar at Bryce.

"Bloody 'ell, we're 'ere because the bloody unicorn had a message 'round 'is neck that said what we sought was on this island in the 'ands of some sorceress named Miseria!" Hyde replied.

"You seek the hand of Princess Amora as well?" Sinbad asked.

"Actually no." Bryce replied, "I'm happily a bachelor."

"There's still the question of how we're going to defeat this sorceress." Shish Kebab began.

"It is said that the way to defeat Miseria is by the Heart of the Sultan." Sinbad began.

"Alright, where's this bloody sultan. I'll tear 'is 'eart out myself…" Mr. Hyde began.

"First of all, Hyde," Samantha began, "That's disgusting. Second of all, I'm not about to let you waltz into a palace and rip the heart out of some helpless old…"

"The Sultan's Heart is not a human heart." Sinbad replied, "It is a large ruby, the largest ever seen. And it is said that it is a key to the power to defeat Miseria."

"Alright, point made. So we save the princess, find the Sultan's Heart, and find the Ansem reports so we can get the hell out of here." Bryce began.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" Samantha asked.

Bryce grinned as he held up a wine bottle from a nearby wreck.

"You're going to get Miseria drunk?" Samantha asked.

"By Allah do not burn those precious spirits!" Shish Kebab began.

Bryce took a cigarette lighter from his pocket and tore some rags from a rotted sail. "No, I'm going to start a fire or two."

"OK, cavern full of wooden shipwrecks plus fire. Bad idea." Samantha remarked.

"If we can distract her with the fire, we could nab the Sultan's Heart and free the Princess and be on our merry way." Bryce replied, "At the very least the fire will distract the other bad guys hanging around the area."

"It will also scorch everything in its path." Samantha replied, "Which will mean yet another ancient structure you've destroyed."

"First of all I did not destroy the Temple of Poseidon because it was already in ruins to begin with. Second of all I think the skylight was a hell of an improvement." Bryce replied.

The group walked deeper into the cavern, past a rotted ship's mast in front of several caves. "Should we split up?" Shish Kebab said.

"No, we should stay together. We stand a better chance if…" Bryce began when a fireball erupted in front of him.

"Looks like you don't need to start that fire after all Bryce!" Samantha commented.

From the caves poured several Heartless and misshapen half human monsters that were part sea creature, bearing axes, swords and picks. Bryce lit and tossed one of his impromptu fire bombs into a cave and the sound of inhuman cries of agony could be heard.

"Welcome fools to your deaths!" came a shout from above. Perched high on a rocky outcropping stood a woman in black and purple robes, with a long flowing black cape.

"Miseria! Your time has come!" Sinbad shouted, as he fought with his sword against two axe wielding ogres.

"Help! Somebody!" came a scream.

Suspended from a yardarm by ropes around her wrists was a slender, athletic looking woman, fair skinned and blonde haired clad in pink silks.

"Hyde, do you think you can get up there?" Bryce asked.

"That mast is almost rotted, friend," Shish Kebab said as he gulped down a bottle of wine, holding a torch in his other hand. He blew on the torch after taking a deep breath, spitting fire onto several Heartless.

"Sinbad should be able to get up there." Bryce replied.

Just then bursts of gunfire sounded, narrowly missing Bryce. "As if we didn't have enough problems!"

A squad of NKPA regulars charged out of another cave, shooting as they went.

"I'll draw their fire," Bryce replied, running as he went, moving laterally and shooting in short bursts.

Samantha looked around at the carnage. Hyde was fighting like he was in a bar brawl, knocking around attacking Heartless and various creatures. Meanwhile several North Koreans and Cobra Vipers were chasing Bryce, who was shooting while retreating. Shish Kebab and Sinbad were practically back to back, surrounded by Miseria's minions, slashing out with their swords. Samantha didn't know what to do, she was a reporter, not some action heroine. But she wasn't going to run and hide.

She saw a cargo net stretching up the side of the yardarm and grabbed onto it, climbing for all she was worth. _How many feet up am I? Don't ask! If you think about it, you'll freak out…_

She crawled across the yardarm, trying desperately not to look down, trying not to think she was about fifty feet off the ground.

"Hey, you!" Princess Amora shouted, "Can you lower me a little?"

"Why not all the way down?" Samantha asked. _All those feet down…_

"I just need a little slack…" Amora replied. Samantha complied, and Amora swung back and forth in the air before catching the cargo net with her feet and then climbing up to the yardarm.

"Thank you…" Amora said to Samantha who was now clinging to the yardarm with all the strength she had.

Amora untied the knots on her wrists and released the rope. "You are brave, my friend."

"Actually I'm scared out of my mind right now." Samantha said, "I hate heights…"

"Hold on to me." Amora began, as she took hold of the rope that had been suspending her. Samantha complied. Amora grabbed hold of the rope and swung to a rock ledge some feet away. She swayed unsteady for a few moments and Samantha swore she was going to fall to their mutual deaths.

Amora leaned forward and practically pushed Samantha forward as well, causing them to land, rather heavily on the ledge.

"That was some trick." Samantha remarked. From the height they stood at, they could watch the battle taking place, they could see Bryce running from rock to rock, shooting and retreating.

"Your friend with the fire-stick certainly has courage." Amora remarked.

"It won't do him any good if he gets himself killed…" Samantha remarked, briefly forgetting her fear of heights as she saw Bryce shooting back at the North Koreans and COBRA Desert Vipers chasing him.

"If we take the Sultan's Heart, we can defeat Miseria…" Amora replied.

Sinbad and Shish Kebab were running through the caves, sword fighting against bands of Heartless or Miseria's minions that were all over the tunnels. "The Sultan's Heart must be in here somewhere." Sinbad said.

"You mean after all this questing, all this fighting, and all this running you have no idea where the ruby is?" Shish Kebab demanded.

"Eh heh heh…" Sinbad began.

Meanwhile Bryce ran inside a cave, jumping over a small ditch at the cave's mouth filled with pitch. He lit his last Molotov and threw it into the ditch causing a wall of fire to spew up in front of his pursuers. With grim satisfaction he watched as a Desert Viper rolled on the ground, trying to put himself out.

_Looks like I'm not going out that way anytime soon. _Bryce thought.

Another gout of flame burst up and narrowly missed incinerating Bryce. From behind the fireball came a monstrous Half-Heartless clad in the tattered remnants of a COBRA uniform. Bryce gunned him down with his AK, running and changing magazines as the creature fell dead to the ground.

_Out of the frying pan and into the fire. _Bryce thought, _I have no idea where in this damn cave system I am. _

Grimly Bryce continued deeper into the tunnels, hoping to find his way out when the ground fell out underneath him.

Elsewhere Samantha and Amora continued their way towards the chamber of the Sultan's Heart. As they did so a Soldier Heartless leapt out towards them. Amora promptly let the creature have it with a flurry of kicks and hand strikes driving the creature into some spikes on the cavern wall.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Samantha asked.

"My father gave refuge to some Shaolin Monks a number of years ago. In exchange he requested they teach me their art…" Amora replied.

Samantha decided not to say anything.

Sinbad stabbed a Dusk through the midsection, causing the creature to fall dead to the ground. "Are you sure this is the way to the chamber?" Shish Kebab asked.

"I'm sure, this time." Sinbad replied, dodging a sword from a Bandit Heartless.

"So far you've done a bang-up job navigating us through these tunnels." Shish Kebab snapped, "First we wind up in that filthy privy the guards use. Then we nearly fall down a precipice and…"

"Look out below!" came the shout and Bryce promptly landed on the two men.

"Are you alright?" Sinbad asked.

"I'm OK, I landed on something soft." Bryce replied.

"Ow my head…" Shish Kebab groaned.

Bryce helped Shish Kebab to his feet before firing off a burst of gunfire that tore up a couple pursuing Heartless. "Don't fire that thing too close to my head again…" Shish Kebab began.

"Shut up!" Bryce shouted, shooting down a Cobra Desert Viper that had been heading towards them.

"Are you alright?" Sinbad asked.

"What?" Shish Kebab asked.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Bryce asked.

"No." Sinbad replied as they stood at a y-shaped junction.

A scream of surprise echoed from the tunnel to their left. "This way!" Sinbad and Bryce both said.

"What?" A deafened Shish Kebab asked.

"Come on!" Bryce said, dragging Shish Kebab.

Samantha held the Sultan's Heart in her hands. Standing between her, Amora and the exit tunnel, however was Miseria.

"Return that Sultan's Heart to me, now. And I'll make your death painless…" Miseria threatened.

Samantha heard running footsteps just then and saw Sinbad, Shish Kebab, and Bryce running through the tunnel. "Samantha, Amora, duck!" Bryce shouted as he pulled a soda can sized cylinder from his chest webbing.

The CIA paramilitary threw a smoke grenade at the feet at Miseria. He promptly grabbed Samantha's arm and practically dragged her down the tunnel.

A Heartless leaped towards Amora, intent on cleaving her apart. Sinbad swung his sword, cleaving the Heartless into two twitching halves.

"My hero…" Amora said, sardonically.

They continued down the tunnel, Miseria in hot pursuit until they reached a hole in the cavern's roof, the sunlight streaming inside. The second that the ruby was exposed to sunlight a red beam shot from the ruby, streaking into Miseria. With a horrified shriek the sorceress began to disintegrate into nothing more than a pile of dust. Lying atop her remains was what looked like some sort of document.

"Oi, we 'ave a problem 'ere!" Hyde said as he ran up to the group.

The cavern shook and vibrated violently. "Wait!" Samantha shouted, running towards the dusty remains and picking up the report, narrowly dodging a falling stalactite.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Amora asked.

Bryce pointed at a couple rubber Zodiac rafts beached in the cove. The group needed no urging, they raced, dodging falling stalactites, rocks, and falling wooden debris. They jumped into the raft and paddled out of the cave to the shoreline.

"What was that?" Bryce asked as they stood on the beach.

"I think this was the first of the Ansem reports." Samantha replied.

The sound of clapping could be heard just then. The exhausted survivors turned to see DiZ walking towards them, "Excellent work. You have done well. You are now getting closer to returning to your world…"

"Why didn't you warn us what we were about to go through. Thanks to this adventure we've been stuck between warring gods, snatched off the ground by Dueling Dragons, and then faced a wizard and her lackeys...Not to mention some nasty characters from our world." Samantha replied.

"A quest entails some difficulty. And more lie ahead, even should you return to your world…" DiZ said, "And remember, Bryce, all is not what it seems."

DiZ vanished just then.

"Bryce, there's just one question. Why is DiZ continuing to harass you? What's this incident he keeps referring to?" Samantha asked, pulling him aside.

A long silence followed before Bryce answered, "Cartel members were harassing workers around the mines."

_Not really a lie. We were fighting near a silver mine. _Bryce thought. "It got so bad that we had to travel in convoys to get supplies in town. Some Cartel guys tried anyway, and we got into a fire fight."

Samantha listened and Bryce continued, "There was one, wounded. He was a kid, maybe sixteen at the oldest. We got him back to the infirmary and treated his wounds. Because I spoke Spanish fluently, I was assigned to question him."

"Why did you interrogate him? Didn't you turn him over to the authorities?" Samantha asked.

"We wanted intelligence, in case there was a second attack." Bryce replied, "All he had to say was that he couldn't answer my questions because Ansem would kill him…"

Bryce paused for a long time before finishing, "And then he suddenly turned into one of those things. I was forced to put him down…He was a kid for God's sake, a damn kid!"

"We should read this." Samantha said, "After all it is about Ansem."

"Know your enemy." Bryce replied, as he began to open the report, reading it...

---

_**My efforts these many years have come to fruition; with the world I govern having become a paradise worthy of being called "Radiant Garden." **_

_**Nurtured by the pure water that is the source of life, fragrant flowers bloom in abundance, and the people face each day with hopeful smiles. **_

_**But where there is light, darkness also lurks. **_

_**As noted in my earlier reports, I must solve the mystery of this "darkness of the heart." This paradise depends on it. **_

_**I shall perform an experiment to probe the depths of a person's heart. One of my own apprentices, Xehanort, has volunteered to be a subject. **_

_**The young man has served me ever since I nursed him back from death's door some years ago. **_

_**He had lost all his memories at the time, but later showed remarkable intellectual curiosity and readily absorbed my teachings, gaining deep wisdom. Any mental immaturity is surely due to his young age. **_

_**If I explore Xehanort's heart with psychological test, I may be able to recall the past locked away within. My apprentice Even has also shown great interest in Xehanort's memories. **_

_**But is he really the right subject? Xehanort does indeed exhibit extraordinary talents… **_

_**Too extraordinary… **_

_**Perhaps they are even superhuman. **_

_**---**_

_**TBC – Up next the villains scheme, and our heroes find out more about the Five Islands. **_


	3. Seuss Landing

**Seuss Landing**

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: Same as before. I figured a lighter hearted break from the action of the first couple chapters was in order. This chapter was based off of the Seuss Landing island in Islands of Adventure.**

**For those of you not familiar with it, the Coyote is one of three Coyotes who are the Guardians of Chaos in my fic Coming of the Foe. Red Witch is the creator of the silver coyote, the most insane character of any ficverse yet devised. **

**Samantha: After the incident with two dragons, dueling gods, who knows how many Heartless and let's not forget Miseria, I could use a break…**

**---**

"Well done, well done…" Cole Turner said, clapping his hands.

"With everything we just went through, we could use more than some applause." Samantha began.

"Maybe a stiff drink…" Mr. Hyde remarked.

Samantha glared at him. "Wot…" Hyde replied.

"I could go for a cold beer right about now." Bryce remarked.

Samantha said, "For once you two agree on something."

"So where are we going next?" Bryce asked.

"On an island of children's dreams, a being of mischief crosses the line to becoming a being of evil…" Scheherazade began.

"Time to get moving, again." Bryce began.

"As long as it doesn't involve flying lizards…" Samantha began.

"Dragons." Bryce corrected.

"…dueling gods, or sorceress ladies or heights." Samantha replied.

"Just take things in baby steps." Bryce joked.

"I'm sure I've heard that somewhere." Samantha replied.

"What about Bob?" Bryce remarked.

"Who's Bob?" Samantha began, and then laughed lightly, "Oh, that Bill Murray movie."

"You know it." Bryce replied.

"I don't think that 'baby steps in the dragon's talons' or 'baby steps through the temple of dueling gods trying to kill each other' was what Bill Murray had in mind." Samantha joked, as they stepped onto the boat that they had used to find the Lost Continent, which they were just leaving.

As the boat continued through the water, Bryce kept a watch on both the horizon, and at least the corner of one eye on Mr. Hyde. The latter was currently slumbering on the back bench of the boat.

"Personally I don't trust him." Bryce began.

"He's saved your life." Samantha interjected.

"Don't be naïve, for all you know he could be planning something, and this could be an ulterior motive." Bryce replied.

"I can't believe you'd say something like this." Samantha replied.

"True, but you've heard the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Who knows how long the Jekyll side of his personality is going to hold out." Bryce replied.

"Well you're not helping it by assigning ulterior motives to his behavior." Samantha argued.

"I'm being pragmatic, Samantha." Bryce replied, "If Mr. Hyde is anything like the book version…"

"So your judging him based on what was written about him on our world. I don't know, maybe he's nothing like the novel version." Samantha replied.

"He did have a history of violence." Bryce replied.

"I'm being open minded here, Bryce. He's saved both of our lives…" Samantha replied.

"I don't know, but I'm keeping an eye on him." Bryce replied.

Little did either of them know that Hyde had overheard this entire exchange. _I don't own either of these people anything. I'll simply kill Bryce and let Samantha live…But wait. I can't just kill Bryce. Samantha would never forgive me…This puzzle does have a complex solution. _

---

"Phoebe, this had better be good!" Piper Halliwell snapped.

"Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo!" Klondike could be heard from somewhere upstairs.

"Piper, I think we have an innocent in trouble." Phoebe Halliwell began.

"That's just great. First I've got to deal with a gray furred, wooing menace. Second of all Paige and Ted have just disappeared…" Piper began.

"Oh no…" Phoebe said, "One of my co-workers just disappeared, vanished into thin air. I can't even get Samantha on the phone."

"Who?" Piper asked.

"Samantha Grayson, she just got hired recently by the Bay Mirror." Phoebe replied, "Just graduated from college recently. Anyway, I tried to call her cell. I can't even get her voicemail."

"Phoebe, don't you think you're overreacting, I mean not all disappearances are demon based." Piper asked.

"I don't usually get premonitions off of non-demon disappearances." Phoebe replied.

"What did you see?" Piper asked.

"I saw her being carried off by some weird creature in a torn suit with a dirty top hat." Phoebe replied.

"Get the Book of Shadows; I'll deal with Klondike and…" Piper said, "AIEEE!!! NOT THE REFRIGERATOR!!! KLONDIKE!!!!!!"

"Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!" The Siberian Husky replied, carrying a large salami in his mouth with Piper chasing him with a broom.

---

"Are you alright?" Bryce asked Samantha, she was sitting as close to the center of the boat as possible.

"I'm OK, I just don't like water all that much?" Samantha asked.

"Really? Why's that?" Bryce asked.

"I can't swim." Samantha replied.

"Don't worry about it. The water's calm and there should be a life preserver somewhere on the boat." Bryce replied, rooting around through an equipment trunk in front of the steering console, breaking out a life jacket, "Ah, speak of the devil."

He handed Samantha the life jacket, who put it on and said, "I'm sure it's not the fashion statement of the year."

"Hopefully you won't need to be floating around in the water." Bryce replied.

"So why us?" Samantha asked.

"What do you mean?" Bryce asked.

"Why did Cole pick us?" Samantha asked, "I mean a journalist fresh out of college and a soldier-for-hire…"

"Well, your guess is as good as mine." Bryce replied.

"I'd like to hear it." Samantha replied.

"Well, if we're here to uncover truth, who better than a reporter and a soldier." Bryce replied.

"What did you do in the Army, by the way?" Samantha asked.

"Infantry." Bryce replied.

"That's the foot soldier branch, right?" Samantha asked.

Bryce nodded, "Any nasty, difficult, tough tasks the Army always assigned us to take care of it. What about you? Why become a reporter, since we're swapping stories?"

"I guess I always wanted to seek the truth, to tell the story that certain people in the world didn't want to be told." Samantha replied.

"Sometimes stories shouldn't be told." Bryce replied.

"You sound like some of those corrupt politicians…" Samantha replied.

"Sometimes things have to remain secrets, like clandestine operations." Bryce replied, "But there are stories that should be told. Honestly who cares about what celebrities do what, when men and women are risking their lives out there and get only a little blurb or two on CNN…"

"But there are some things that the public should know about." Samantha replied, "I mean, take the CIA. There seemed to be a lot of issues in the Agency before 9/11…"

"That was because the politicians in DC crippled the CIA, and then they blamed it for everything." Bryce replied.

"See, there's my point. If the press…" Samantha began.

"If the press would dig their heads out of their asses and quit focusing so much on juicy scandals, and more on important issues…" Bryce began.

"Not all reporters have our 'heads in our asses' Bryce." Samantha began.

"I wasn't talking about you, personally, I was talking about some of the others in the business." Bryce replied, "Its more TV news that I was referring to than anything else."

"Try not to generalize about people next time." Samantha began, sounding somewhat hurt.

"Hey," Bryce began, "I'm sorry. It's just that I've had some issues with some elements of the press."

"I can tell." Samantha said.

"Look, I can tell you really care about your profession, and to make sure the truth is known at any price." Bryce replied, and smiled at her, "Don't lose that for some promotion or for some choice assignment…"

Samantha couldn't help but smile back, "I won't…"

Hyde watched the whole exchange, feeling jealousy build up inside him. Cruel logic began to tell. _What do you think a woman like her would see in a man, if you can even be considered one anymore, like you? You're more beast than human…_

_I'll dismember Bryce. Samantha wouldn't like it. I hate him. I hate him…_Hyde thought.

---

Tucker Robertson took one look at Falcon and said, "You're not reassuring me. You're telling me you lost a team without a trace? And still have no idea how they disappeared."

"That's correct. We're scratching our heads over that disappearance right now." Falcon replied, "I assure you, my best sources are working on it."

"So you're saying whatever took your team is probably what took Bryce?" Tucker asked.

"Exactly. So unfortunately we are going to have to wait for that solution…" Falcon replied.

Tucker looked somewhat annoyed, but knowing the G.I. Joe team's reputation for getting things done, despite rather unorthodox methods.

The way things were developing here in Mexico, it seemed like unorthodox methods were needed. Half and full Heartless were becoming more and more common in remote areas all the time. Patrols were running across increasingly better armed Cartel members and even COBRA regulars on occasion. Just last week Major Bludd had been spotted in the area.

---

"Where's Samantha?" Tyler McManaway asked, as Amanda and Lauren showed up in the rental car.

"I don't know." Amanda said.

Lauren added, "We thought she'd pick us up at the airport, but she never showed. We tried her apartment, and we didn't find her. And then we tried her cell, we couldn't even get that…"

"You know Samantha, if she's got a story she can get one track minded." Amanda began, "But you'd think she'd have her phone on..."

"Did you try her at work?" Tyler asked.

"We can drive over there, I think the Bay Mirror is on the way." Amanda replied.

The trio drove down towards the Bay Mirror and entered a scene of chaos…

"Please tell me I'm not seeing a silver furred coyote in a German peasant dress?" Amanda blinked.

Indeed, a large silver furred coyote was dancing around the Bay Mirror, dancing around a large fat man with gray hair and blue eyes. Several Bay Mirror employees were clustered around the main room, watching the Coyote's antics.

"_Ist das nicht_ _ein Spencer's gut…" _The Coyote sang, pointing at Spencer Ricks' tremendous gut.

"_Ja das nicht ein Spencer's gut…" _The Coyote echoed.

"_Ist das nicht ein Spencer's butt." _The Coyote sang, "_Ja das nicht ein Spencer's butt."_

"_Spencer's gut. Spencer's butt. Oh du schone, oh du schone, oh du schone Schnitzelbank!_" The Coyote sang.

"Please tell me I'm seeing things?" Tyler asked, "Please tell me I'm the only one seeing a dancing, singing coyote in drag?"

"No, you're not seeing things." Lauren blinked.

"_Ist das nicht ein college jock." _The Coyote sang, pointing at Tyler, "_Ja das nicht ein college jock."_

"_Ist das nicht ein lead filled sock!" _The Coyote sang at Tyler, "_Ja das nicht ein lead filled sock." _

"_College jock. Lead filled sock. Spencer's gut. Spencer's butt. Oh du schoene, oh du schoene, oh du schoene, Schnitzelbank!" _The Coyote sang out and swung the lead sock, clocking Spencer Ricks upside the head and then bashing Tyler in the stomach.

"Ow…" Tyler groaned.

"Oh dear…" Lauren said, helping the quarterback to a seated position.

"_Ist das nicht ein rocket chair!" _The Coyote said, wheeling an office chair covered with a wide assortment of gunpowder rockets duct taped to it. "_Ja das nicht ein office chair."_

"_Is das nicht ein open air!"_ The Coyote sang, pointing at the window, "_Ja das nicht ein open air."_

"_Rocket chair. Open air. College jock. Lead filled sock. Spencer's gut. Spencer's butt. Oh du schoene, oh du schoene, oh du schoene Schnitzelbank!" _The Coyote sang, hitting Spencer with the lead filled sock and then duct taping him to the rocket covered chair.

"Oh no…" Phoebe groaned as she came into the Bay Mirror. The Coyote was already causing more than his fair share of havoc in the place.

"_Ist das nicht ein lighter this…" _The Coyote sang, holding a lighter in his hand.

"No, that's not a lighter this!" Spencer said desperately.

"_Ist das nicht ein wick shall his…" _The Coyote sang lighting the fuses.

Vainly Spencer tried to blow out the fuses, "No that wick should not be lit!"

"_Lighter this. Wick will hiss. Rocket Chair. Open air. College jock. Lead filled sock. Spencer's gut. Spencer's butt. Oh du schoene. Oh du schoene. Oh du schoene. Schnitzelbank!" _The Coyote sang.

Spencer was sweating desperately, trying to blow out the fuse. Meanwhile Amanda saw a dark haired young woman and a swarthy fellow with close cropped black hair wearing the olive drab fatigues of the Israeli military brandishing a rifle in his hands.

The Israeli soldier aimed the rifle at the Coyote and squeezed the trigger and Amanda heard the hiss of gas released. _Tranquilizer gun. _Amanda thought.

The dart flew through the air and whacked Elise Rothman in the butt, and the editor of the Bay Mirror promptly telescoped to the ground, hitting the water cooler, splashing water on herself when sedated.

"Aren't you a marksman, Ted?" Paige asked.

"Paige, it isn't easy hitting a Coyote with Quicksilver's powers." The Israeli snapped back.

_Quicksilver? _Amanda thought. _Oh one of those nutbag mutants on TV. _

Ted fired off another tranquilizer round; this one went wide and embedded itself solidly in the door, narrowly missing Lauren.

"Watch it with that thing, will you!" Lauren yelped. Normally Lauren was the quiet sort, but the quick Irish temper that was part of her heritage could flare up occasionally.

"_Oh du schoene! Oh du schoene! Oh du schoene! Schnitzelbank!" _The Coyote continued to sing, dancing out of the way of another dart.

"Don't let it get away!" Ted shouted.

"_Auf Wiedersen Bay Mirror…" _The Coyote declared.

"And…I've…Got you!" Tyler shouted, and executed a near perfect football tackle. Tyler wound up tackling air and banging his head into the wall.

"Ow…" Tyler moaned.

Lauren and Amanda rushed over to Tyler's side and leaned him against the wall. Meanwhile the Coyote escaped.

"Not again…" Paige groaned.

"What the hell was that?" Amanda asked.

"That's classified, ma'am." Ted replied.

"Wait. They trust Israeli soldiers with this information but they don't trust American citizens?" Amanda asked.

"Trust me, the less you know about this whole Coyote business, or the Misfits, the better." Ted replied.

"Samantha's lucky she missed all this." Lauren said.

"What, you mean her workplace torn apart by an insane silver coyote?" Amanda asked, "Or her boyfriend giving himself another concussion before football season even started?"

"I hate coyotes…" Tyler moaned.

---

"You've got to be kidding me." Bryce remarked as they tied the boat off to a dock on the island.

"I've heard about the inner child, but this is ridiculous…" Samantha observed.

The dock was painted in cheerful pastel colors, the paint somewhat fresh. "It's vile." Hyde remarked.

The trio continued further inland, when Bryce raised a hand, indicating they should stop. "What?" Samantha asked.

In front of them was a statue, smashed and defaced. It was of an anthropomorphic black cat with a white belly, with a red bow tie and a red and white striped top hat. There was a line attached to the wrist of the statue, indicating it had been pulled down.

The pedestal of the statue was still up, cratered in places, with slanderous remarks scrawled with spray paint on it.

"What's next, the Grinch?" Bryce remarked.

"Did you have to ask?" Samantha replied, indicating a memorial, recently built, of a humanoid with green fur, a bulbous stomach, long fingers, and large, sinister black eyebrows.

"Can this day not get any stranger?" Bryce asked.

"It can, and it will, Mr. Lightfoot." DiZ said.

"You again." Bryce demanded.

"What's going on here?" Samantha replied.

"Ah, I thought you'd never ask, my dear girl." DiZ replied, "Organization XIII is indeed active here. Thanks to a certain petty sadist, and several Nobodies, the Grinch was able to take control of this island."

"It used to be that only on the blowing of a foul, odd wind would draw the Grinch from his lair and cause more than his mischief. It is called Grinch Night, and those on this island know better than to venture out. But now, it is an island of a perpetual Grinch Night…" DiZ replied.

"Grinch Night?" Bryce asked.

"I believe I can answer that question more thoroughly." A voice echoed.

The same anthropomorphic cat, whose statue the three of them had seen earlier, showed up. "Cat in the Hat," the being said, shaking hands with a bewildered looking Hyde and Bryce and giving Samantha a peck on the cheek.

DiZ vanished into thin air just then. "Great, Cryptic man chooses to disappear on us yet again." Bryce observed.

"I'm still here, a firsthand guide without peer." The Cat said.

"What exactly happened?" Samantha asked.

"The Grinch has always been unhappy with my governing of this island." The Cat replied, "He'll scheme, and cause trouble, but we always gain the upper hand."

"But he found some new friends, I see." Bryce replied.

"Yes." The Cat replied, "Since he fell in with Organzation XIII, his advantage has become considerably keen."

"Not to mention he's always been mean." Samantha replied.

Bryce looked at her with a furrowed brow. "What?" Samantha replied.

"If I can swallow dueling gods, fire and ice belching dragons, and a white Sinbad I can definitely swallow the Cat in the Hat alive and in the flesh." Bryce replied.

"And now the Grinch is hunting me down." The Cat replied, "With strange gray contortionists and his own horrific monsters he terrorizes the Whos of the town."

"So how do we stop the Grinch?" Samantha asked

"We're not here to stop the Grinch, Samantha. Remember Cole said we're here to get those Ansem reports. Somebody else is going to have to do something about this Grinch character." Bryce replied.

"We can't just let them be ground down by the Grinch. And besides you know how to fight. Maybe you could train the Whos to fight the Grinch…" Samantha replied.

"An unsupported and unarmed populace against a foe like we've seen? That's ticket to a massacre." Bryce replied.

"We have to do something." Samantha asked.

"We have to carry out our task, get back to our world, and…" Bryce began.

"I can't just turn around and let the Grinch keep terrorizing the Whos. Please, help them?" Samantha began.

"What can we do?" Bryce asked.

"They say that a boy Who, with sight lacking is key to send the Grinch packing." The Cat replied.

"Then we've got to find the whelp." Hyde replied.

"Let me go get a lay of the land." Bryce replied.

"We have a guide." Samantha replied, indicating the Cat.

"I know, but somebody has to go check on enemy positions." Bryce replied, "See the exact disposition of their forces, draw out a route to the town…"

"Why do that?" Samantha replied.

"So we don't blunder into enemy forces…and to make sure I keep the destruction to a minimum." Bryce replied.

"Be careful." Samantha replied.

"Relax, they'll never even know I'm there." Bryce replied.

"Are you sure?" Samantha asked.

"Hey, I'm half Arapaho, Indians are naturally stealthy." Bryce replied, with an ironic grin, disappearing into the brush.

---

"Find that pesky child and that Cat, they are the only ones who holds the key to defeating me." The Grinch commanded of half a dozen Shadow Heartless.

"Be careful not to rely too heavily on the Heartless…" Larxene began, "The Heartless consume the careless."

"Yes, I've heard the lecture." The Grinch replied peevishly.

"Then you know that a nosy reporter, a beast, and a CIA paramilitary on this island." Larxene replied.

"Pagh, I can handle them." The Grinch replied.

---

Eukariah Who ran, chasing him was a greenish creature, standing seven feet tall, with a short squat head and body, with long limbs. Its eyes were simply empty sockets and it chased after the bespectacled eight year old with long strides.

"Look out!" came a shout. Eukariah looked up in time to see a swarthy man with a mop of black hair and a rifle in his hands.

Bryce took aim and fired at the creature, hitting it with several rounds from his AK, causing greenish blood to splatter.

Just then several Nobodies appeared, coming out of the wounds that Bryce had inflicted on the creature. "Oh shit…" Bryce groaned.

"Mister, please don't swear." Eukariah said, "It isn't proper, don't you care?"

"Kid, this is serious! RUN!" Bryce shouted, shooting at the Nobodies till his AK ran dry. He reloaded as he ran, lifting Eukariah under his left arm as he ran through the woods.

Two more of the greenish creatures loomed before them. Bryce gunned one of them down and promptly seven Dusks came out of the seven wounds Bryce's gunfire had inflicted on the monster.

"Damn it!" Bryce grunted.

"Mister, it isn't right to swear!"

"Kid! Spare me!" Bryce shouted as he tossed a hand grenade behind him, blowing up a couple of pursuing Nobodies.

---

"Are you alright?" The Cat asked Samantha.

"It's just I'm worried about some things in my world." Samantha replied, "Right now my roommates and my boyfriend probably just arrived in San Francisco and I'm not there to see them…I haven't seen any of them in months. I know it sounds kinda silly. I mean we've got the Organization to worry about and…"

"Affairs of the heart are never silly. If you don't address them your life goes willy-nilly." The Cat replied.

"They're probably worried why they haven't found me right now." Samantha replied, "Especially Tyler…"

"Ah, your boyfriend?" The Cat replied.

"Yeah." Samantha replied, "I'm setting up the lease in San Francisco, while he finishes his senior year at North Western and…"

Just then they heard the sound of gunfire and an explosion. Sometime later Bryce came storming out of the woods. "Run!" Bryce shouted.

"What happened to 'They'll never know I'm there'?" Samantha asked.

"Change of plans! I found the kid, but half the Grinch's army is right behind me!" Bryce shouted, nearly out of breath, with Eukariah half dragged behind him.

"Some Indian you are." Hyde observed.

"Racist!" Bryce shouted, still legging it as several Nobodies and tall green monsters came after them.

"You might not want to shoot the green ones, Mr. Bryce. Wounding those creatures causes Nobodies to emerge from their wounds, sage advice." The Cat began.

"You might have told me this sooner!" Bryce shouted as the group ran until the Cat was able to find them someplace to hide.

---

"Are you sure they're not going to find us down here?" Bryce replied.

"Yes, I'm sure." The Cat replied, "There are plenty of places to hide here in the sewer."

"Ugh…" Samantha replied.

"We've got to deal with those green monsters if we hope to try and stop the Grinch." Bryce replied before accidentally bumping his head on a pipe.

"Eureka! I've got an idea." Bryce said, and turned to the Cat, "Do you have any whiskey?"

"Bryce, this is hardly a time to be looking for a drink." Samantha replied.

"I could go for some fire water right now." Hyde replied.

"No, I'm not going to drink it." Bryce replied, "I'm going to burn our pursuers with a Molotov cocktail. If any of those bastards decide to breed Nobodies, they'll come out cloaked in fire."

"Bryce," Samantha began, "First of all, brilliant idea, second of all, watch your language, there's a kid here."

"I told him to watch his tongue around my young ears…" Eukariah replied.

"Oh for crying out loud." Bryce grumbled.

"No, I don't have any alcohol in bottle or tankard," The Cat replied, "I'm a kid friendly animal, not some backwoods drunkard."

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Samantha asked.

"It's about the only idea I have." Bryce replied, "I hope to God it does."

"Thanks for saving me, mister." Eukariah said.

"Don't mention it, kid." Bryce replied.

"Eukariah, you're the one who can defeat the Grinch." The Cat in the Hat began.

"Spring it on the kid suddenly, why don't you." Samantha replied.

"Look, we don't have that much time." Bryce replied.

"Bryce, that has to be a lot for one kid to swallow." Samantha replied.

"We don't 'ave time to argue this." Hyde added, "Either the kid 'elps defeat this Grinch, or we go collect that Ansem Report and get the 'ell off this island and let the Whos deal with this wanker on their own…"

Eukariah had never been more terrified in his life. _I'm the one who can beat the Grinch? Why me? I'm only ten years old…_

The three adults were arguing about something in the corner. _I can't do this. I can't… _Eukariah thought, and ran out of the tunnel.

"I hate to break up your parliament. But Eukariah has gone missing…Later you three can vent." The Cat said.

Bryce unslung his AK and was about to venture into the tunnels to search for Eukariah. "Bryce, no, you don't want to do it." Samantha replied.

"I guess a Redman with a gun is the last person the kid needs to see." Bryce replied.

"Please, let me take care of it." Samantha replied.

"We'll follow behind." Bryce began, "I'm not about to split us up down here, and let you get hurt, or worse…"

"OK, but if we find him, let me handle him." Samantha replied. Bryce nodded.

---

Eukariah sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his face in his hands. He was entirely ashamed for crying. He was ten years old, boys didn't cry. Only little girls did.

"Hey, can I sit down?" a female voice said. It was the woman from those three strange people with the Cat.

"Sure." Eukariah said, sniffling.

Samantha took a seat beside Eukariah, "Are you OK?"

"No…" Eukariah said in a small voice. Samantha gently wiped a tear from his cheek, "I'm scared…"

Eukariah inwardly tensed, expecting a 'don't be a baby' lecture. It never arrived, Samantha simply turned towards him and said, "So am I, I mean this guy chants something in Latin and the next thing I know I'm in some world I don't really understand…"

She regarded him with those eyes of hers. They were intelligent and sharp eyes, yet also gentle and warm and dark brown, like the best chocolate. She smiled and said, "So we're both scared."

_She's so nice, and she's so pretty. No wonder Bryce likes her…_Eukariah thought. He was more than a little afraid of Mr. Hyde, such a brutally muscled and powerful man who looked like he could bend Eukariah's spine with his pinkies. Bryce was OK, but still intimidated him a bit, he was a bit gruff at times but he wasn't too bad.

"But you've got Bryce, and even Hyde to help." Eukariah replied.

"Yeah, but I still am scared. Especially of…" Samantha began.

"Thank you for making this so easy for me." Larxene replied, "I've found the whelp…"

"Eukariah run!" Samantha shouted, practically shoving him out of the alcove.

Bryce and Hyde suddenly burst into the room in a cone of bright light. Bryce had his small, very bright, tactical flashlight in his left hand and his Glock 17 in the other. He fired several rounds at Larxene.

"Your weapons don't harm me, human." Larxene said, snidely, "Now if you wish to see your lovely friend again, you will bring Eukariah to us…"

Larxene made a gesture, "Oh what the hell, I'll kill you two anyway and have my minions take the child."

Larxene disappeared with Samantha and several Nobodies came into the room. Bryce fired three rounds into the first of them, downing it with his Glock 17. Hyde grabbed one of them and smashed its head through the nearest brick wall.

"ARRAAGGGHHH!!!!!!" Hyde roared angrily and literally disarmed another Dusk, using the severed limb as a club as Bryce gunned down Hyde's original victim with several 9mm rounds. Bryce kept moving, switching out magazines and shooting steadily. Between Hyde's ferocity and Bryce's marksmanship the two men found themselves standing in a room full of dead Nobodies.

"Now what?" Hyde asked.

"We go find the Grinch, find Samantha and get the hell out of here." Bryce replied.

---

"Ah, nothing is more beautiful than a young woman in love." Larxene said, fingering a lock of Samantha's hair.

Samantha didn't say anything, she couldn't force that hand away, tied tightly to the chair that she was. Her wrists were tied tightly behind her back, her elbows forced close together, tied with a length of rope. More rope pinned her arms to her side, wound under and over her breasts, pinning her to the back of the chair. Another length bound her waist to the back of the chair, and more rope bound her ankles, above and below her knees, and higher up on her thighs. She couldn't move an inch.

"I know all about you, Samantha Grayson…" Larxene said, "And don't ask how. I have my sources."

Larxene made a knife appear between two fingers, and Samantha saw the reflection of her face in the polished surface of the blade, saw the fear in her own eyes. Larxene held the blade on Samantha's throat.

"Oh dear, if Bryce and Hyde don't bring the child to me…I'm afraid I may have to ruin this lovely white blouse of yours with the stain of blood." Larxene said.

_Bryce please think of something, fast…_Samantha thought.

"But enough of threatening, let's talk about you some more." Larxene continued, "You, Samantha Julia Grayson, have always wanted to be a journalist your whole life. You got into Northwestern University to study journalism. And it was there where you met the love of your life, Tyler McManaway your sophomore year. He was a freshman quarterback, and he asked you out, you said yes and you've been happily together for three years…In fact you set up that nice apartment in San Francisco for both of you to live in when he graduates later this year."

Larxene paused and then continued with a predatory smile, "And I can't blame you. He's young, athletic and handsome, a perfect all-American man for you. He's every college girl's dream guy, and women on campus think so much of him…I really can't blame him for taking advantage."

"That's not true!" Samantha snapped back.

Larxene's snidely replied, "Think about it. You've graduated, you're hundreds of miles away in San Francisco. A man can get lonely, and with all those gorgeous girls throwing themselves at him…"

"Tyler loves me!" Samantha replied.

"Are you sure..." Larxene said as she left the room leaving it slightly ajar.

The room was dark and cold and hardly even the size of a closet. She saw the Grinch and a medium sized brown dog with rumpled fur.

"Max you stupid mutt!" The Grinch bellowed, "Can't you do anything right."

The dog whined as the Grinch gave it a devastating kick. "Where do think you're going, I'm not through with you yet."

"You wish you were somewhere else, don't you? You wish you were at your Auntie's being fed with a silver spoon, with pats on the head and affection to go around…" The Grinch said, and belly laughed loudly, "Well too bad…"

The dog looked absolutely miserable. _When I was a little girl, I felt so sorry for Max. I always wondered why he stayed with that mean old Grinch._ Samantha thought.

The big eyed dog headed over towards the closet door when the Grinch left. He nosed his way in and Samantha winced at how much the minimal artificial light in the hall hurt her eyes after being cooped up in that dark room for so long.

Samantha saw an opportunity then. She started whistling a little. The dog looked at her at first, afraid to draw near, but eventually something gave and it approached her. The dog circled her at first and started to sniff her. Samantha waved her tied hands as much as she could and began to pat the animal.

"Can you untie me boy?" Samantha whispered as she pat and scratched Max behind the ears. The dog made a couple contented sounds, licking her hands.

The dog whined. Max really didn't want the Grinch to kick or berate him, but knowing his master, the Grinch would find something to yell at him for anyway.

Max tugged at the knots binding Samantha's wrists until the rope slid away. Samantha rubbed her sore wrists and began the long, laborious process of untying herself.

---

Bryce pushed the manhole cover into the Grinch's lair aside, his Glock out as he climbed up the ladder, presenting a very small target profile. He scanned the room before climbing out, waiting for Hyde, Eukariah and the Cat in the Hat to climb inside.

Bryce tucked the Glock back into its holster and raised his AK up, he aimed the formidable Russian assault rifle around before gesturing for the group to move forward through the Grinch's lair.

Bryce said, "I'll draw them away and try and find Samantha…"

"Bollocks, mate, I'm going to look for her too." Hyde replied.

"Someone needs to keep Eukariah and the Cat safe." Bryce replied.

"In that case we'll go after the Grinch, and find Samantha later." Hyde replied.

As they made their way through the halls, facing surprisingly light opposition. Most of the Grinch's forces were terrorizing the Whos elsewhere on the Island. Throughout all this, Bryce was waiting for a surprise of some kind, a surprise of the unpleasant variety.

Bryce kicked down a door, a large pair of double doors, the ones that were definitely the Grinch's antechamber.

As Bryce entered the room, scanning with his rifle's muzzle he heard the sound of laughter. Standing on a dais was the Grinch himself.

"Ah you've brought me the child." The Grinch said, "This should be a simple fight."

"You're taking the kid over my dead body." Bryce replied.

"And mine…" Hyde added.

"That will be a simple matter." The Grinch said and clapped his hands.

Several Heartless, Nobodies, and monstrosities of the Grinch's creation flooded into the room. Bryce immediately started shooting, short controlled bursts from the AK followed by accurate and rapid shots from the Glock, shooting a thread of fire at the attacking bad guys.

"RRRAAARRRRRGGHHH!!!" Hyde let out a loud, vicious roar, grabbing a Neoshadow by the ankles and smashing it head first against a stone wall, spilling thick black blood and gray brain matter. He used the corpse as a club, whacking down a trio of Shadow Heartless.

A Soldier Heartless leapt onto the Cat in the Hat and Bryce promptly gunned it down with a trio of 9mm rounds from his Glock 17.

Eukariah ducked as a Bandit Heartless swung its scimitar at him. Bryce spun around and fired a short burst from his AK-47, killing the creature immediately. Eukariah crawled, ducked, and moved around the battle.

He didn't know what it was, but some unknown force was leading him straight to the Grinch. He had to stop this. Mr. Hyde and Bryce were probably going to die if he didn't. And Miss Samantha would be a captive of that loathsome Grinch and the sociopath blonde lady.

He couldn't let that happen, he was going to stop that Grinch if it killed him. That much he knew.

Bryce reached for his Glock again when a trio of Neoshadows leapt onto him, intent on taking his heart. One of them promptly was dropkicked in the head by Mr. Hyde. Hyde grabbed the second Neoshadow and threw it into the crowd of attackers and literally disarmed the third, pulling the Neoshadow's arms out of their sockets with a savage roar.

"Grinch! I'm not afraid of you!" Eukariah shouted.

"Oh," The Grinch said, "You are a most foolish boy…I will make you quake in fear!!!"

The Grinch gestured and several obscene spirits and monstrous beasts appeared surrounding Eukariah.

"I'm not afraid…" Eukariah said.

"You will be!!!" The Grinch said, "You will be!!!"

Several Nobodies were throwing Eukariah back and forth between them with long arms. They tossed him about like some human beach ball. Several of them opened their large, zipper like maws, hoping to swallow the child.

Meanwhile Samantha heard the sound of fighting. With Max in tow she practically ran down the stairs and saw all hell break loose. Hyde was holding two Nobodies by their necks, but being swarmed by several more. Bryce was fighting hand to hand with another, hitting it with the stock of his AK before he was tackled by another three Dusks.

Larxene saw Samantha at the same time Samantha saw the Organization XIII member. "YOU!" Larxene said obscenely and lobbed a knife towards Samantha's heart.

Max saw the blade flipping end over end through the air. He couldn't let the blade hurt such a kind and caring woman. He leapt into the air and the knife burrowed itself into his side.

"YOU BITCH!" The Grinch shouted, "NOBODY HARMS MY DOG AND LIVES!"

The Grinch gestured with his hands and his minions began attacking the Heartless and Nobodies as he hurled himself bodily at the Organization XIII sociopath. The Nobodies surrounding Eukariah were drawn into the battle and Samantha ran towards him, taking his hand and running. Bryce, Hyde, and the Cat in the Hat joined her flight out of the Grinch's lair.

Sometime later: "Do you think the Grinch survived?" Samantha asked.

"If he's anything like pond scum, he'll resurface." Bryce remarked.

"We didn't get the Ansem report though…" Hyde growled.

"I wouldn't go that far." Samantha replied, holding up a report.

"Let's see it then…" Bryce replied.

Samantha opened the report and the group read it…

---

**_I have made a grave mistake. _**

_**My study of the "darkness of the heart" began with a simple psychological test and quickly snowballed. **_

_**Spurred on by my youngest apprentice Ienzo, I constructed a massive laboratory in the basement of my castle. **_

_**Unbeknownst to me, my six apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the "darkness of the heart." **_

_**As soon as I found out, I called my apprentices together and ordered them not only to cease their studies, but to destroy the results of their research thus far. **_

_**What on earth was happening within the hearts of my six beloved apprentices? While pursuing the mystery of the darkness of the heart, could they themselves have strayed into its depths? **_

_**Yet I remain the most foolish of all, for having begun these experiments. **_

_**We are not meant to interfere in the depths of another's heart, no matter what our reasons for doing so… **_

_**And my error plunged me into despair. **_

_**A visitor from another world soothed my dejected soul. **_

_**A tiny king named Mickey came wielding a legendary key—the infamous "Keyblade," said to bring both chaos and prosperity to the world. **_

_**He was very knowledgeable on many topics, and we deepened our friendship as we conversed companionably. **_

_**Upon his advice, I decided to review the data obtained at my basement lab. **_

_**That is when I discovered the "Ansem Reports." **_

_**Though they bore my name, the only one I had written was number 0. **_

_**Apparently he had gone on to pen numbers 1 through 8 himself. **_

_**Yes—the first subject in my foolish experiments. **_

_**---**_

_**TBC **_


	4. Jurassic Park

**Jurassic Park**

**Disclaimer: Same as before. I don't own the Jurassic Park franchise either. This chapter is based on the Jurassic Park island of Islands of Adventure and assumes that the Park opened without a hitch…**

**---**

"This is what DiZ meant when he said all wasn't what it seemed." Samantha remarked, "Somebody usurped Ansem's research…"

"Ansem Reports 1-8?" Bryce asked, "Where the hell are we going to find those?"

"You won't," Cole said, appearing out of thin air in a shimmer, "Another shall find those reports…"

"Who?" Bryce asked.

"That's not important now." Cole replied, "But what's important is your next quest."

"Another bloody quest?" Hyde asked.

"Where are we going?" Bryce asked.

"Does it matter?" Cole asked.

"Yes." Hyde and Bryce both replied, "We'd like to know what we're up against."

"In a land where animals from Earth's distant past still roam, vipers seek the means that brought these animals to life." Cole replied.

"COBRA." Bryce replied.

"What?" Samantha asked.

"A terrorist organization, led by Cobra Commander…" Bryce replied.

"Oh I remember…wasn't he the guy who sang that 'Pretty Fly for a Bad Guy' song." Samantha said, "Everyone said it was the worst Offspring knockoff they'd ever seen."

"He was also the guy parodied in the VH1 show I Love Toys." Bryce replied, "Vaquero Security Enterprises actually ranks him as 150 out 151 of the world's terrorist organizations…So he's an idiot, unfortunately an idiot with quite a lot of power."

"So even some guns-for-hire company has that much of a disregard for Cobra Commander?" Samantha asked.

"What else do you expect from a former used car salesman?" Bryce asked.

"Really? I heard something about him being from some ancient race of snake people from Cobra-La, displaced by the last ice age and seeking to displace man…" Samantha began.

"Sources in the CIA state that story is about as legitimate as the existence of Bigfoot." Bryce began. _Damn I said too much. Hope that didn't wake the journalist instinct…_

"Two questions." Samantha replied, "First, how do you know the CIA opinion? And does the CIA believe Bigfoot exists, or does it have concrete proof?"

"First of all, how I know the CIA opinion is classified." Bryce replied.

_Uh-huh, that seems like a standard government agent denial…_Samantha thought. There was obviously more to Bryce than the disaffected ex-serviceman turned 'military contractor' and she was determined to find out what.

"Second of all, the CIA won't confirm or deny the existence of Bigfoot." Bryce replied, with an ironic grin.

"I hate to interrupt your witty repartee Bryce." Cole interjected, "But there are some particulars of where you're going next. First of all, this will require a good bit of discretion. Where you are going is a tourist's attraction, I don't think they'll be too happy about you carrying a long barreled firearm around."

Bryce nodded, it made sense. "And also it might be best that you not destroy any landmarks…" Cole continued.

"First of all, the place was already in ruins to begin with…" Bryce replied.

"However Poseidon's Temple didn't need a new skylight." Cole replied.

"Destroy one ancient landmark and you're marked for life." Bryce quipped.

"And," Cole continued, "Mr. Hyde, I really think you might attract a little too much attention walking around barefoot, with torn trousers and part of a suit jacket. However the top hat is very becoming…"

Cole waved his hand and two items appeared. One was an overlarge trench coat and shoes for Hyde and a concealed holster with a two magazine pouch for Bryce. Cole vanished just then, leaving the three heroes to their task.

---

"Hey Falcon." Chuckles said, "I just got hold of some very important information from HQ, regarding the Korean mercenary that the patrol killed last week."

"What do you have?" Falcon said.

"Apparently there was a tattoo on his left shoulder. It was a NKPA tattoo." Chuckles said.

"There are a few ex-NKPA regulars who hire themselves out as mercenaries." Falcon said.

"True, but there aren't that many from the Black Dragons…" Chuckles said.

"Black Dragons? Sounds like a South-Central LA biker gang." Falcon remarked.

"A good bit more dangerous, actually, Lieutenant." Tucker said, "The Black Dragons are an elite force, numbering about as much as an under strength American infantry battalion. They're the strong arm of the North Korean Intelligence, comparable to the _Spetsnaz _of the old Soviet Union."

"What are North Koreans doing all the way in Mexico?" Falcon asked.

"I don't know, this seems highly unusual for them." Tucker replied, "Anyway, the tattoo that Chuckles mentioned isn't an officially sanctioned practice, but almost every Black Dragon operative has it tattooed onto them."

"This is something we'll have to follow up on." Falcon said, "I'll contact the Pit and see what we know about this Black Dragon organization, you do the same on your side?"

Tucker nodded, "I'm afraid Langley doesn't know that much either, just some vague reports of their numbers and possible involvement in a few incidents of procurement for illegal scientific research."

"What kind of research?" Falcon asked.

"Genetic research. Most recently Black Dragon operatives attempted to break into a genetics lab in Seoul, South Korea. They managed to take several computers from the facility, but failed to steal any samples before they were run down and killed by South Korean security forces." Tucker replied.

---

"This place is incredible…" Bryce remarked. The jeeps had stopped on a dirt trail, beside a grassy field.

Bryce stared in unabashed admiration. Standing before him was a sight he never imagined he'd see in his life. The Brachiosaurus nibbled at the pine needles in the tall conifer, rearing up on its hind legs to get to some choice branches.

Samantha couldn't help but be awed as well, remembering memories from her childhood, trips to the Field Museum when she was a little girl. She smiled at the awed expression on Bryce's face as he stared at the dinosaurs, the herd of Brachiosaurs and Hadrosaurs playing near the lagoon, where some yellow and orange tiger striped tour boats moved near them.

The jeeps started moving again and parked out in front of a large white building with a safari lodge type façade. Several panels in the wall had fossil impressions them, and as two massive mahogany doors opened the tourists could see two dinosaur skeletons, that of a Diplodocus and an Allosaurus about to battle one another.

Bryce, while awed by what he was seeing, still was on his guard. He noticed a pair of armed guards walking towards a back room, both of them were carrying Glock pistols, judging by the shape he guessed they were .40 caliber weapons. The way the guards moved showed they were experts with their weapons.

He glanced around for any sign of suspicious characters, none so far. The tour guide, a Japanese-American man in his early twenties, said, "This is the Visitor's Center and the center of the island, "It is the start for all the tours, even the River Cruise. Shuttles will head to the River every quarter of an hour."

"The Visitor's Center is also the entranceway to Cretaceous Courtyard, where your accommodations are…" the tour guide continued.

Samantha nudged Bryce who said, "We'll head to one of the hotels and I'll get us a room." Bryce replied.

"I'm not sharing a bed with you two." Samantha replied.

"I'll see what I can do." Bryce replied as they followed the gaggle of tourists out into a large courtyard with several planters full of short palms, ferns, and other flora. "I'm going to want to get the lay of the land, we'll meet at the Visitor's Center after we get the room. We'll use that place for all our meetings."

They walked into the nearby hotel and Bryce walked up to the hotel clerk and asked if there was a room available. "We have a two bedroom room, sir." The clerk, a middle aged woman, said cheerily, "How long will you need it?"

"Two days." Bryce replied, giving them a cushion of time before.

Bryce reached into his pocket, fingering a CIA issue government credit card. _Use only for emergencies, well, they'd consider this an emergency. It isn't as if the Agency will trace the bill to another dimension._

Bryce pulled out his card, hoping to God that it worked and inwardly sighed with relief when the machine read that it took his card. The trio headed back to the Visitor's Center to find out some more information.

"We should split up." Samantha suggested.

"Huh, are you nuts…" Bryce replied.

"No, I'm serious." Samantha replied.

"Whenever you've gotten separated from the group, bad things have a tendency to happen." Bryce replied, "Need I remind you of two dragons…Or the battle against Miseria…"

"This is a completely different situation, Bryce." Samantha replied, "Besides there are thousands of tourists here…"

"The lass is right, we can cover more ground that way." Hyde replied.

"We'll meet at the Visitor's Center before dinner." Bryce replied, glancing at his watch, "We've got a little over half a day. I want to see the layout of the island, so I'll take the road tour."

"It doesn't cover the River at all…" Hyde replied.

"Go see the River then." Bryce replied.

"I'll check out the Visitor's Center." Samantha replied, looking through a brochure, "I think I can use the journalist's touch and find out some more information about this park."

"Sounds good." Bryce replied, "Meet back here before dinner?"

"OK." Samantha replied.

Hyde grunted with a slight nod and the three went their separate ways.

---

Bryce waited outside with a group of tourists in front of the Visitor's Center for the pair of electric Ford Explorers on the thin metal track in the road, the ones that took them through the dinosaur exhibits. Hyde was taking the River Cruise, which passed near the coastline, and the island's artificial harbor. There were only three places boats of any kind could dock, the rest of the island was surrounded by sheer cliffs.

_How would the Black Dragons try and get on this island covertly? Small boat? Seems likely, but if the island's security is as top notch as they say it is, then not likely. Air drop? No, the airspace seems too controlled. _Bryce's eye caught a trio of Koreans wearing the typical garb of twenty-somethings on vacation. They were talking to each other in low voices, muttered words in Korean that could not be deciphered. _Damn, I wish I studied Korean at some point in my CIA career..._

For all intents and purposes the trio appeared to be no different from any of the international guests, but there was something suspicious about them. _The way their reading the island maps! For all intents and purposes they're reminiscent of a company commander planning an attack on a position. _

Bryce looked away afterward, not wanting to be caught staring, lest any of them recognize him as the one who iced two of their buddies with an AK-47 and a hand grenade. He wound up sitting in the rearmost of the two vehicles with a rugged looking, outdoors man type with a beat up brown fedora hat, a very sardonic fellow with curly black hair, clad from head to toe in black, and a young man in his early twenties.

"So Tim," the rugged outdoorsman asked the college kid, "Which graduate school wound up picking you?"

"I got into the University of Montana's Paleontology Graduate program." Tim replied.

"Congratulations." Alan Grant replied, "It's a good program."

_Hmm, _Bryce thought, _This sounds very similar to the movie Jurassic Park. Except in this reality Hammond must've been successful and the characters are a bit older..._

The sardonic man in black added, "I'm amazed paleontology exists as a science, Dr. Grant." Ian Malcolm stretched lazily in the front seat as he spoke.

"With Mr. Hammond's park, paleontologists have a new way of studying dinosaurs only previously dreamt of." Grant replied.

"But then again there is the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle. Whatever you study also changes. Mr. Hammond and his scientists studied the DNA, then added frog DNA to the sequence in an attempt to create a dinosaur, but all he wound up creating..." Malcolm replied.

"Dr. Malcolm brings up a good point, actually." Bryce replied, "How can we tell if the behavior of the dinosaurs in the paddocks is genuine dinosaur behavior?"

Grant and Tim turned to Bryce from the front seat, "That is a good point Mr..." Tim began.

"Bryce Lightfoot, just call me Bryce."

"_If you look to the right you will see a herd of the first dinosaurs on our tour called Dilophosaurus..." _Richard Kiley's recorded voice could be heard saying.

"Your grandfather's still using the same voice recording?" Bryce asked.

"How do you know that?" Tim asked.

"I've been a Jurassic Park enthusiast for several years." Bryce replied, which wasn't really a lie, he did have the Jurassic trilogy, special edition on DVD at home.

"_One of the earliest carnivores, we now know that Dilophosaurus is actually poisonous. Spitting its venom at its prey, causing blindness and eventually paralysis, allowing the carnivore to eat at its leisure. This makes Dilophosaurus a beautiful but deadly addition to Jurassic Park..." _Richard Kiley's recorded voice began.

"Interesting." Bryce replied, "Dilophosaurus were always assumed to be scavengers because of their rather delicate jaw muscles."

"So what is it you do, exactly, Bryce?" Alan Grant replied.

"I test off-road vehicles." Bryce replied.

---

"Excuse me, miss," said a Chinese-American man in a white lab coat, "I believe the tour route is that way..."

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Samantha replied, "I got separated from the group."

"It's OK, I can lead you back to them." the man replied. _Definitely college age, cute coed, the sort of girl I would have a thing for in college._

_Time to pull the slightly flirty card._ Samantha replied, and smiled, "Samantha Grayson, I'm a Senior Staff Editor for the Daily Husky, the Great Northern University campus newspaper. I'm here to write an article on job opportunities at InGen..."

"Dr. Henry Wu, lead geneticist." Wu replied, smiling, "Do you have a press pass?"

"I forgot it at home." Samantha replied, innocently.

"That's OK." Wu replied, "I'll go take you over to talk to Robert Muldoon, our security officer and game warden..."

"Game warden? Is this a hunting park?" Samantha asked.

"No, not at all. This is a biological preserve where we keep extinct animals the like of which the world has not seen for 65 million years." Wu replied.

Wu took an electronic card from his pocket and inserted it in an electronic lock. He led her through a warren of corridors until they stopped outside a room that had Security Officer stamped on a square metal plate on the door.

"For God's sake Wu, the press is here?" an English accented voice sounded, "Third bloody group this month."

"It's only one reporter, Robert." Henry replied.

"Right, I'll need to see this phantom reporter." Muldoon replied irascibly.

Samantha walked into the office to see Wu talking to a lean, hard bodied man with receding blondish brown hair wearing khakis and hiking boots.

Muldoon issued Samantha a Jurassic Park press pass and a park map, together with a small device about the size of a keyless entry remote. "It's a personal alarm, if you get into any trouble, click on the red button and we'll be along to help you." Muldoon explained.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Samantha asked.

"When dealing with wildlife, especially predatory wildlife, luck favors the prepared." Muldoon said.

"Predatory wildlife?" Samantha asked.

"Several of the species here on this island are predators, the T-Rex, the Compies, and especially the Velociraptors..." Muldoon replied icily. In his mind's eye, Muldoon was trying to keep the images of the last time a raptor escaped. It had killed two workers, and severely mauled a third before it was recaptured. He was lucky it hadn't made it out of the Raptor Containment Area.

Henry Wu had already left the room, talking of something he had to do in the hatchery. Samantha left the room to follow him when a man in his thirties in a business suit, with thick glasses, and a half crown's worth of light brown hair. Something about this man raised Samantha's journalistic interests. She had seen Peter Ludlow in the Jurassic Park movies a long time ago, and knew him as one of those weasel-like corporate types with no ethics, the sort of people honest journalists lived to expose. She put an ear to the door...

"Robert, who was that young lady with the press pass?" Ludlow asked.

"Her name's Samantha Grayson." Muldoon replied, "She's a reporter with Great Northern University's newspaper, the Daily Husky."

"What was her purpose here? It wasn't about that raptor incident one month earlier..." Ludlow replied, and with an icy tone added, "...was it?"

"Not at all." Muldoon replied.

"Good, ensure she finds nothing out regarding that incident, because if word leaks out to the press about the dangers of the Raptor Containment Area, Jurassic Park could suffer and you could also suffer..." Ludlow began.

"Yes Mister Ludlow." Muldoon replied.

"Very good, we wouldn't want a few sordid details of your past coming to light, especially considering you are a wanted man in certain parts of Africa. And in those certain parts of Africa war criminals tend to die in especially heinous ways..." Ludlow warned.

Samantha moved away from the door and made an effort to disappear around the nearest corner, hoping Ludlow wasn't about to head that same way.

"Miss Grayson?" Henry Wu said.

"Yes?" Samantha replied.

"Right this way." Henry Wu said, opening up a computer locked door.

Samantha found herself looking at a room filled with banks of computer consoles. "This is the brains of Jurassic Park..." Henry Wu began, "The Main Control Room and...ah, the head honcho of the operation."

Standing nearby was a slightly potbellied African American man with a beard and mustache, with his collared shirts' sleeves rolled up with a lit cigarette in his fingers.

"Ray Arnold," Wu said, with a smile, "He's our chief engineer for Jurassic Park. He designed all the systems..."

Wu's introduction was cut short by a derisive snort. Sitting at a computer was a fat man with curly brown hair and black plastic framed glasses. Candy bar wrappers, half drunk sodas, and assorted scraps of paper covered his desk.

"Not all of them..." the fat man began.

"Dennis Nedry, integrated computer systems." Wu replied, with an incredible degree of civility.

"Who's the chick?" Nedry asked.

"Her name is Samantha Grayson, she's a student journalist with the Daily Husky." Wu replied.

"What's its circulation, five people?" Nedry remarked.

"It's a student publication at Great Northern University, in Chicago." Wu replied, "She's doing an article about careers at InGen."

"Dennis, the headlights on the tour vehicles..." Ray Arnold began.

"I'll debug the tour program when they get back, OK? OK? It'll eat a lot of computer cycles, we'll lose part of the system, and there's a finite amount of memory..." Dennis argued back.

Wu gently escorted Samantha out of the control room saying, "I'd better get you out of here before those two kill each other. Don't get me wrong, Dennis is a brilliant young man, but he has that arrogance that comes from knowing that he's good..."

Wu unlocked another door. The room was more than a bit foggy, not to mention humid. "What's this place?" Samantha asked, she could see several round tables lined with some sort of vegetation and machinery with several white coated lab techs attending to it.

"This is my part of the park." Wu replied, "This is the hatchery. If you notice its slightly hotter in here than usual and more humid. We also keep the atmosphere at a higher O2 level, so that's why you feel slightly springy."

Samantha peered at the eggs as Wu began, "Kathy, what do you have for me today?"

A young woman, a couple years older than Samantha's twenty-two years, with brown hair walked over. "Nothing really, Henry, just a baby raptor."

"Can we see it?" Samantha asked.

"Sure." Wu replied.

The trio headed into another room. Several areas were penned off by baby gates, and the pens had several rags and toys in them. A small animal, about a foot and a half long was in one of the pens. It looked like a yellow lizard with brown tiger stripe patterns. It had a lizard's elongated snout and head, but stood on its hind legs like a bird. It's small front legs were drawn back as it quizzically cocked it's head, regarding the three humans in the room.

The baby raptor sprang upward, landing in a surprised Samantha's arms.

"They can jump. The babies and the adults as well." Kathy began, "This one's about six weeks old."

"Will she bite me?" Samantha asked.

"No, she's very friendly, at least until she's a bit older. Anyway, raptors don't have any teeth as infants, even egg teeth." Kathy replied.

"Egg teeth?" Samantha asked.

"Kind of a rhino horn like structure that helps baby dinosaurs break out of the their shells. Velociraptors don't have them. They have to use their snouts to do that." Wu replied, "And sometimes we have to help them out."

"What about the ones born in the wild?" Samantha asked.

"Actually they can't breed in the wild." Wu replied.

"How is that?" Samantha asked.

"Because all the animals in Jurassic Park are female. We've engineered them that way. You see all vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway, they just require an extra hormone development at a given stage to make them male. We simply deny them that." Wu replied.

"Deny them that?" Samantha asked.

"There's no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park." Wu declared.

The little animal didn't weigh very much, maybe about a pound or two. It's face was inches away from Samantha's as its forked tongue flicked in and out. The baby animal sniffed at Samantha's neck and began to burrow its face in it. Samantha giggled slightly.

"She's very friendly." Kathy said, "She'll stay that way until she gets to eight months old, where we can release her into the raptor pen...Right about then she turns into a huntress..."

Samantha stared at the little animal as it cuddled against her, hard to believe something so little and innocent looking could be such a lethal predator...

---

Hyde wandered down the queue for the Jungle River cruise, after about fifteen minutes in line he decided to say bollocks to it and go somewhere for a drink. He was annoyed, annoyed at the heat, annoyed with Bryce for coming up with this stupid idea, and annoyed that Bryce had even dropped into his swamp to begin with, not letting him live his self-imposed exile. _Well one good thing that came along with this was Samantha...However big of an irritant Bryce turned out to be..._

"Oi! 'O the bloody 'ell are you?" came an English accented voice. It came from a muscular man with a shaven skull, tattooed on his right forearm were the words Mad Max. Tattooed on the other forearm was the word Death.

"Wot's it to you, wanker..." Hyde snapped, right about then he was ready for a fight, against anyone, Bryce Lightfoot in particular.

"This bar's our turf, mate, so unless you're a supporter of the greatest football team in the wold, bugger off!" Mad Max said.

"And wot team is that?" Hyde demanded.

"Manchester United. So please enlighten me...who the fuck are you?" Mad Max demanded.

"I 'appen to come from Manchester originally..." Hyde replied.

"Really," Mad Max said, "And I assume you support Manchester United..."

"If it gets me to the bloody bar." Hyde replied, "Yes."

Mad Max grabbed a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale, put it to his eye, and squeezed his right eye shut.

The Manchester United fans all shouted like a bunch of maniacs and started drinking more alcohol.

"_My baby takes the morning train. He works from nine to five and then...he takes another home again..." _The jukebox began.

"_To find me waiting for 'im!!!" _The Manchester United supporters sang out.

Hyde forgot all about his assignment from Bryce as he drank like no tomorrow, singing himself into a stupor.

---

"Bryce?" Samantha asked, when she heard the door opening.

"Yeah." Bryce replied as he walked into the room.

"What have you found out?" Samantha asked.

"Well short of a federal prison or a nuclear missile silo this place is pretty well built up." Bryce replied, "The dinosaurs seem contained in the perimeter."

"That's good news." Samantha replied.

"Or not." Bryce replied.

"Do you always have to bring up the worst case scenario?" Samantha asked.

"Hope for the best, unfortunately experience teaches you to expect the worst." Bryce replied, "I took stock of the guards. They're pretty heavily armed for a biological preserve, and they seem tense about something...Maybe external sabotage?"

"Or a breakout." Samantha replied, "I did some eavesdropping and they were worried about some place called the Raptor Containment Area."

Bryce took a map, covered with several markings on it, tracing out routes, fencelines and the like. "Can you show me on the map?" Bryce asked.

"It's not like they sat me down and told me where everything was." Samantha replied.

"Maybe Hyde saw it when he was on the River Cruise." Bryce replied.

"Bryce, I'm worried, the River Cruise is shorter than the Land tour, Hyde should be back by now." Samantha replied.

"You're right." Bryce replied, checking his Glock, "I'll go out and look for him."

"_My baby takes the morning train. He works from nine to five and then...he takes another home again...TO FIND ME WAITING FOR HIM!!!" _The song echoed from out in the corridor, the booming loud voice of Mr. Hyde joined by several dozen singing English accented voices.

Bryce and Samantha headed for the door, opening it in time to see Hyde and several severely intoxicated Englishmen wearing red shirts with the words **Manchester United **written on them. At least one had a hooded sweater with the words **Kill Something **written on it.

"Soccer hooligans..." Bryce remarked.

Hyde was staggering around with an empty bottle of gin, which he promptly broke over his head. The words Manchester United were written in red marker on his forehead.

"So what the hell are you guys doing here?" Bryce asked.

"Wot do you mean what are we doing 'ere?" Mad Max asked, "We're here to drop off your mate, who's pissed as a fart roight now..."

"We appreciate it." Samantha remarked, quickly, glaring at Bryce for being less than diplomatic.

"No, I meant here on Isla Nublar." Bryce asked.

"Were 'ere to see the mighty reds (AN: Manchester United football team) do the Costa Ricans in San Jose next week!" Mad Max replied.

A severely intoxicated Hyde staggered into the room as another drunken Englishman regarded the scene and belched loudly. The door closed and the soccer hooligans could be heard singing loudly down the hall, "_Danish boys we are 'ere!!! Ooh oh! Ooh oh! Danish boys we are 'ere!" _

Hyde staggered onto the couch, crooning, "_England 5, Germany 1, Michael Owen is number One!!!" _

"First Nobodies, then dueling gods, then dragons, the Dr. Seuss, the Grinch, and now a bunch of drunken soccer hooligans." Samantha remarked, "If I still have a job when we get back to our world, Elise is never going to believe this..."

"A hell of an excuse for a boss, but there's something else that I'd have to worry about..." Bryce replied, heading out into the hallway with a bucket.

"Where are you going with that?" Samantha asked.

"I'm going to give Mr. Hyde an instant hangover cure." Bryce replied, heading to the hallway ice machine.

"Bryce, no..." Samantha began, grabbing his right arm.

"Look, Hyde simply screwed the pooch just now." Bryce replied, half dragging her out the door to the ice machine.

"Oi lads! That wankers got a 'Tican football t-shirt on! Let's give this nancy a fuckin' good kicking!!!! AAAGGGHHH!!!!!" Mad Max shouted.

Bryce filled the bucket with ice, and then went back into the room, filling it with water. "Bryce, maybe you could be a bit more..." Samantha began.

Bryce promptly dumped the bucket of ice water onto Hyde. "Whoa! Wot!!! PTUU!!!" Hyde sputtered.

"...diplomatic..." Samantha began, wincing.

"Ahem, " Bryce began, "I assume your little fact finding endeavor was a success."

"Piss off wanker!" Hyde shouted, "I'm sick o' you throwing orders about..."

"We needed that information, and fast. And now thanks to you I have no idea what the area around the River Cruise is like." Bryce replied.

"Piss off mate." Hyde replied.

"Hyde, you very well may have screwed us all over, because that river goes through a significant portion of the island and I now have no idea what's along it, thanks to your drunk-a-thon." Bryce replied.

"Bugger off!" Hyde shouted.

Samantha, meanwhile glanced at her watch. _Damn. _She thought. _6:45, I was supposed to have a dinner interview with John Hammond tonight...at seven._

"Look, Bryce, maybe I can find out the information you need tonight." Samantha said.

"How?" Bryce asked.

"I have an interview with Mr. Hammond, InGen's CEO, tonight." Samantha replied, "In about fifteen minutes."

"We still have to talk, Hyde..." Bryce began.

"Guys, argue later when you're in clearer states of mind. And Bryce, Hyde is right, this isn't the Army and we aren't soldiers you order around." Samantha replied.

"I'm trying to get you both through this..." Bryce began.

"And we appreciate it. But you do have two other brains to call on too." Samantha replied as she headed out the door.

---

Samantha Grayson entered John Hammond's bungalow, noticing she wasn't alone in the spacious foyer. There were others in the room, sitting or standing in small groups. She took in the sights, a tall, self effacing man in black; a slim blonde woman; a balding, wiry fellow; a young man and woman roughly her age; a rugged cowboy type; and of course Peter Ludlow.Ray Arnold and Henry Wu were talking in the other corner of the room. Wu greeted her with a wave and a friendly grin, Arnold said nothing.

"Ah, Miss Grayson," Ludlow began, "I see my uncle has also invited the press."

"The press. Let me guess, John hired you for another bit of publicity?" the man in black said.

"Lay off the kid, Ian..." Grant replied.

"I'm twenty-two years old..." Samantha protested.

"Sorry, my fiancee's a bit on the gruff side." The blonde woman began, and offering a hand said, "Dr. Ellie Sattler."

"Samantha Grayson."

"So what form of media do you specialize in?" Ellie asked.

"I write for our student newspaper at Great Northern University." Samantha replied, "The Daily Husky."

"So do you think you'll stay with print media or go onto television reporting?" Ellie asked.

"For the love of God, don't go television reporting." the sardonic man in black chimed in, "It may work for the young and beautiful women, but once you reach menopause age consider yourself replaced as co-anchor."

"That's not my passion anyway, mister..." Samantha replied.

"Malcolm, Ian Malcolm." The man in black replied, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Sorry, Ian's had a few too many." Ellie replied, "He suffers from a very overinflated ego."

"I can tell." Samantha commented.

"You know what they say," Ellie commented, "The bigger the ego the smaller the..."

"Then that must mean Dr. Malcolm's...uhm...list of privileges, is small." Lex Murphy, a young blonde woman around Samantha's age, remarked.

"Hell hath no fury greater than that of woman." Malcolm remarked.

"They're intriguing anyway." the young man in his late teens remarked before introducing himself, "Tim Murphy."

"Careful," the lawyer remarked, "They're full of surprises."

"But more pleasant ones than unpleasant." came an English accented voice, "Dinner is served."

Hammond opened a large wooden door in the sitting room and the group filed through, to a large table, with several elegant place settings. The bungalow was spacious, with many large windows and skylights, giving the impression of dining under the stars. Samantha had been raised in wealth, her parents owned a fairly successful winery in Upstate New York, and she could see Hammond had exquisite tastes. One of the large windows overlooked the lagoon area of the River Cruise, where several of the Brachiosaurs were drinking water or taking a quick dip, the large window directly in front of Samantha, plus the bungalow's high position, gave her a commanding view of the river.

_Exquisite tastes, but definitely high security ones. I wonder what Bryce would say about the way this house is built. _Samantha thought. She recognized the thick bars on the skylights and the windows, and noted the glass seemed thick enough to be part of a commercial aquarium.

Dinner was fairly relaxed, with small jokes and remarks, and not a little money talk in between. "So, Mr. Hammond, what drove you to create Jurassic Park?"

"Having been an enthusiast about dinosaurs for many years I often envisioned such a concept, where anyone who desired could see animals only previously dreamt of." Hammond replied.

Ludlow looked impatient, as if his uncle should be discussing financial matters, and not wasting his time talking to some young crusading journalist.

"How did you create them?" Samantha asked.

"If you'd seen the video at the Visitor's Center that we show all tourists, you would know that answer." Ludlow remarked snidely.

Hammond gave his nephew a warning look before saying, "I apologize, my nephew, though a brilliant businessman, sometimes can fall short when it comes to tact. Wu?"

"We bring the dinosaurs to life using reclaimed DNA. Fossilized tree sap, called amber is our source. You see mosquitos fed on dinosaur blood, and occasionally became trapped. This blood in the mosquito's stomach is our building block to creating dinosaurs." Wu replied.

"There are flaws to their methods, however." Ian Malcolm began.

"Dr. Malcolm, let us not argue this point again..." Wu began, "My methods are flawless. There is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park."

"As I've said in my book, _Chaos and the Jurassic Equilibrium..."_ Malcolm began.

"Dr. Malcolm, this is noplace to be advertising yet another of your critical attacks on..." Donald Gennaro began.

"Again, I'll tell you about the scientific power at your fingertips. It didn't require any discipline to attain. You read what others had done and you took the next step. Before you even knew what you had you patented it, packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox and now you're selling it, you're selling it..." Malcolm continued.

"Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction. If I was to create a flock of condors on this island you wouldn't have anything to say about it..." John replied.

"John, this isn't some species that was obliterated by deforestation or the building of a dam, dinosaurs had their shot, and nature selected them for extinction." Malcolm countered.

Samantha listened intently as the scientists debated with Gennaro, Ludlow, and Hammond. It seemed that the scientists had their share of concerns regarding the handling of extinct animals they knew very little about, and keeping thousands of tourists in proximity to them. Little did she know that a storm, literally and figuratively, was brewing...

---

As much as he wanted to trust that Samantha could find out some good information at Hammond's dinner, Bryce decided to carry out a solo recon of his own. Hyde was currently passed out on the couch, covered over by a blanket, with a trash can near by and a few large bottles of water for the hangover.

He headed out of the hotel courtyard, following a maintenance path towards the queue area of the Jungle River Cruise. He took care to skirt the Hammond Bungalow, knowing the large windows and bright lights could easily expose him.

Bryce began his trip to the River when he saw DiZ in front of him. "You again?" Bryce demanded.

"Yes, me again." DiZ replied.

"What the hell do you want?" Bryce asked.

"I could ask the same of you." DiZ replied.

"I want to get the hell off this world, this dimension, this reality, whatever you call it." Bryce replied.

"No, I ask what does your heart desire." DiZ replied.

"And why does this matter again?" Bryce asked.

"Because the Heartless feed on hearts, specifically the darkness in them." DiZ replied, "I sense a wanderers heart in you, Bryce, considering you wandered much of your life. You wandered into the military, and back out, wandered before you were recruited by the CIA for their Special Activities Division..."

"Look, mister, I don't need to be psychoanalyzed by a weird fellow in red robes and bandages." Bryce replied.

"Be wary, Bryce, for one of your number shall not survive the journey." DiZ replied, before vanishing.

_Not survive the journey. What does that-? Dear God, that means Hyde, Samantha, or I won't live to finish this journey. Let it be me then, I really don't want the poor girl to be dead on some godforsaken world that no-one has ever heard of..._Bryce thought.

---

Dennis Nedry idly punched away at some commands on his computer keyboard. In less than twenty-four hours, when the supply boat pulled in, he would be one point five million dollars wealthier.

"_Seven-fifty." Lewis Dodgson, BioSyn Corporation, said_, "_On delivery seven-fifty for each viable embryo, that's one point five million if you get all fifteen species off the island." _

"_I'll get 'em all." Nedry replied._

"_Remember, viable embryos, they're no use to us if they don't survive." Dodgson replied._

"_How am I supposed to transport them?" Nedry asked._

_Dodgson handed him a shaving cream canister, "The bottom screws open, there's enough coolant in the compartment to last seventy-two hours." _

"_That's up to your guy on the boat. Seven-fifty two nights from now on the East Dock, make sure he gets it right." Nedry replied._

"_How are you planning to beat security?" Dodgson asked._

"_Oh I've got an eighteen minute window. Eighteen minutes and your company catches up on ten years of research..." Nedry began._

He was simply killing time until the S.S. Venture pulled into the harbor, where he could drop of the shaving cream can in his sports bag and walk away a far wealthier man. Eighteen minutes. The control room would have no idea that he was gone...

Little did he know that he was under observation himself. Watching in his office was Peter Ludlow. _Scheme all you wish, Nedry. _Ludlow thought,_ You think yourself a king, but in reality you're little more than a pawn, a convenient patsy for which I can blame this entire 'accident' and after Uncle John steps down as CEO of InGen, the entire enterprise will be mine..._

---

Samantha walked into the room, her head spinning from the dinner debate and maybe a glass or two of from dinner. Hammond definitely had excellent taste in wines, and this particular vintage was to die for.

She saw Hyde was still snoring noisily on the living room couch. She headed for the bedroom, glad that both Bryce and Hyde had agreed to let her use the proper bedroom. Bryce was sleeping in the fold-out bed in the living room of their hotel room.

She could see him twisting and turning underneath his blankets. Occasional grunts and other noises, sounding like conversation could be heard. She was just about to write it off as simple sleep talking when she heard him say, "Flanagan, DiStephano, get sarge to the medics..."

Samantha put her handbag down as she watched Bryce in the middle of his dream...

_Iraq 2004 - Captain Bryce Lightfoot, 1st Infantry Division, sat_ _on top of an empty ammo can as he thumbed through a battered, careworn copy of Alan Lightman's **Einstein's Dreams** when the call came out for QRF over the radio. _

_Before First Sergeant Mike Horvath, Kilo Company's first sergeant, could even poke his head into the lean to shelter Bryce was already grabbing his helmet and his M4 carbine, buckling his load bearing vest._

"_Report?" Bryce asked as he headed for one of the wide bodied Humvees._

"_Supply convoy took a hit, IEDs on the MSR (main supply route), just outside of the village of Karbalah." Horvath said._

_Already several QRF soldiers were hopping into the Humvees and the two Bradley fighting vehicles, racing for the scene of the attack. Horvath checked his Beretta M9 9mm semiautomatic, he'd already handed his M-16 off to a soldier whose weapon jammed so often that they turned it over to the armory for maintenance._

_As the Humvees neared the scene, the sounds of gunfire and grenade and what had to be mortar fire sounded. _

"_This isn't an IED, it's a fucking ambush." Bryce replied. _

_Already the MK-19 grenade launcher on one of the Humvees was firing towards the direction of the insurgents. Bryce and several members of his company dismounted the vehicles, assaulting towards the direction of the enemy fire. He watched as soldiers ran short distances, before hitting the ground, firing, covering for their buddies who were running ahead of them, reloading magazines on the run. _

_The fire was coming from several buildings directly to the left of the supply convoy, and Bryce gestured his troops to attack the buildings. He watched with grim satisfaction as several soldiers stacked up on a door while one of them kicked it open, throwing a grenade inside. After the grenade detonated the stack of troops charged into the building. Gunfire could be heard as they entered. _

_Bryce and Horvath headed towards the building, with the radioman, PFC Bob Manetti, telling HQ about the attack in progress. Just then an insurgent staggered out of a hole in the floor, blood pouring out of his nose, evidently he'd fallen victim to the shockwaves of several grenades being flung around. He squeezed off a burst of fire at around the same time Horvath saw him and fired almost half a clip into him at less than fifteen meters. Both Horvath and the insurgent hit the ground._

"_Sarge!!" Bryce began, "MEDIC!" _

"_Sir, God damn it! I'm OK!" Horvath said from the floor. Bryce looked down, Horvath's legs were covered with blood._

"_Bullshit." Bryce replied. "Flanagan, DiStephano, get Sarge to the medics." _

"_God damn it, sir! I'm alright." Horvath began as Flanagan and DiStephano supported him between them. _

"_Kingpin, this is Bishop One-Niner." Bryce began, "We have arrived on scene, confirm source of attack came from the village of Karbalah. I have four wounded, none killed...still securing objective." _

_The flimsy building shook as a grenade exploded upstairs. Several insurgents had fled upstairs, and were now trapped, fighting elements of the QRF. Shooting was lessening upstairs as several of the trapped insurgents were being cut to ribbons by fragmentation grenades thrown into the rooms, followed by infantrymen charging in and shooting steadily. _

"_Building secure! Building secure!" Came the shout from three floors up. The word passed from room to room and from floor to floor before. _

"_Casualties? Ammo?" Bryce shouted._

"_Running low!" the loud voice of Sergeant Watkins could be heard. _

"_Squad two, one wounded." _

"_Medic!" came a shout._

_Presently the medics came, bearing a collapsible stretcher. "Who is it?" Bryce shouted._

"_It's no one sir." Watkins said._

"_Bullshit its no one, Watkins." Bryce replied, "It's one of our god damn own." _

"_Sir, really, it's no one." Watkins said._

_Bryce took a step towards the stretcher, noticing the stretcher was covered over by a tarp and that there was movement underneath it._

"_He's dead, sir." the medic said._

"_Bullshit he's dead! He's alive, damn it!" Bryce replied, and drew back the sheet. He found himself staring right back at a Heartless, clad in the desert tan fatigues of a US Army soldier. The creature's eyes glowed bright yellow as it let out an ear piercing shriek. _

Bryce sat up in the foldout bed embedded in the wall, suddenly, his Glock in hand, scanning the hotel room for any threats. He turned to find himself face to face with Samantha.

"Whoa! Bryce!" Samantha began, holding up her hands.

Bryce blinked and said, "God, I'm sorry."

"'I'm sorry,' you almost blew me away and all you can say is I'm sorry." Samantha replied.

"I did not almost blow you away. I have enough training that I can instantly assess a threat when I see one, and you didn't pose a threat." Bryce countered.

"Bryce..." Samantha began, looking at him, "You look like hell, I think you should get some sleep."

"That's what I was doing when you walked in." Bryce replied, laying the gun back under his pillow.

"Does your training say you deal with bad dreams by pointing guns all over the place?" Samantha asked.

"How long were you in here?" Bryce replied, sliding out of the covers, and realizing he was in his boxers, grabbed his jeans and slid them on, heading for the kitchen for a glass of water.

Samantha followed him, Bryce wasn't losing her that easily. It was that part of her nature that made her a promising young journalist. As he walked, Samantha couldn't resist a look, Bryce had the compact, well muscled build of a dedicated swimmer. Compared to Tyler, her boyfriend, Great Northern University's star quarterback, he was smaller, but clearly an athlete.

"Bryce?" Samantha asked, "What was it about?"

"Look inside yourself and you'll understand." Bryce replied.

"Bryce, come on, you're the one who keeps saying we need to be honest with each other." Samantha began.

"It's fairly self explanatory, my last statement." Bryce replied, "You're an idealist, Samantha, that's what makes you want to pursue the truth as a journalist."

"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you." Samantha replied. Bryce turned to sip his glass of water and Samantha could see the tattoo on Bryce's right arm, around the shoulder area. It was written in an elaborate script, in plain black ink. She winced as to how painful sitting still for that had to have been.

The words tattooed into Bryce's arm were: **Zu Soldaten und Vaterland immer treu.**

"What does that mean?" Samantha asked.

"It's German." Bryce replied, "It means _'To Soldiers And Fatherland, Always Loyal'_. I had it tattooed into my arm when I transferred into the Army after two years in the Navy, reinforcing a statement that was already my motto. I was never in the mood to win medals, I was there to do a tough job"

At Samantha's quizzical look, Bryce added, "I'm half German, on my mother's side."

"Fatherland? Doesn't that sound somewhat fascist?" Samantha asked.

"Not at all." Bryce replied, "Considering that an officer's duty is to his soldiers and his homeland, or fatherland. And considering I'm part German, the word just made sense. Anyway, that was the ideal I believed in for all eleven years I spent in ranks."

"So what made you switch from the Navy to the Army?" Samantha asked.

"At the time the Navy's surface warfare community, which I found myself after graduating from Annapolis was becoming too much like a corporation, getting away from the warrior roots that were part of its foundation. I wanted to follow that citizen-soldier ideal that drove me since boyhood, and the Army seemed like the place to do it."

"What happened?" Samantha asked.

Bryce told her about the dream he had just recently had, recounting every detail.

"So who was the guy under that sheet?" Samantha asked.

"His name was Levy." Bryce replied, "He was only twenty years old..."

"What happened?" Samantha asked.

"He was the kid every platoon commander complains about." Bryce replied, "I still remember he was assigned to our company, Kilo Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad. Everyone in his chain of command complained about him, how he was a screwup, inconsistent, but not lacking in heart."

"He wasn't trouble, he earnestly wanted to be there, but adapting to military life had a few headaches for the guy, it does for everyone." Bryce continued.

"_Sir, I want to be here. I want to stay with the company..." Levy said, as he sat on an empty ammo box, facing Lightfoot, sitting on another box._

"_That's all well and good, private. But I've been getting a lot of complaints from your NCOs and your platoon leader." Bryce replied, "What's the issue with you?" _

"_Sir?" _

"_Private, speak honestly." Bryce replied._

"_I joined because I had nowhere left to go." Levy said, "I could've finished college, but there were emotional reasons that made it too hard. I couldn't go home, I'd be the only kid in my family to fail college, so the Army was my only place..."_

"_Levy." Bryce replied, "I'll move you over to second platoon, give you a chance to get somewhat of a fresh start." _

"Did it work?" Samantha asked, "Moving him?"

"Yeah. It turned out first platoon never gave him a chance. Not a single one of those guys even bothered to befriend the kid, not even found out if he had a pet dog, a goldfish or whatever. Just because he was different..." Bryce replied, "He had one week left before we were due to be out of Iraq...I'll never forget seeing the kid on that stretcher, pulling back that tarp, knowing it was one of my guys on that thing."

"Bryce, I don't know what to say..." Samantha began.

"You don't need to say anything." Bryce replied.

"Look, it's obvious that something's been bugging you for a while and I..." Samantha replied.

"It's really kind of you to care." Bryce replied, "But honestly, I'm fine."

Hyde slowly had been waking up, watching the whole exchange. He saw how Samantha was around Bryce, regarding him with those soulful brown eyes. He felt his blood turning icy, through the hangover.

Bryce took a look at Samantha then, she was definitely a looker, with that auburn hair, those lovely brown eyes and smiled faintly. _Maybe if we'd met a few years earlier..._Bryce thought.

Hyde still lay there as the two spoke to each other. Samantha had taken a couple steps closer to Bryce. Bryce didn't have his shirt on. _Wanker. I'll dismember you. I'll bloody tear you in 'alf. _Rage and jealousy ran red hot through Hyde's veins. That rage and jealousy was mixed, with a good deal of self pity. _Wot did you expect, that she'd go for a chap like you, a malformed bloke of brute muscle? Of course she'd bond with Bryce...I don't want to 'urt 'er, so I can't just tear Bryce limb from limb, though I want to more than anything..._

"Bryce," Samantha said, touching his arm, feeling the compact muscle beneath, "If you ever need to talk..."

"You're sleeping just down the hall. I know." Bryce replied, "I'm fine for now, and thanks for your compassion."

Samantha walked down the hall, to the bedroom to get some rest. Bryce watched her go, feeling sorely tempted. He remembered she had a boyfriend she mentioned, and that the two were deeply in love. _God, such a nice girl. Beautiful. Intelligent. Idealistic. Things that used to attract you back in the past..._

_---_

The next day Bryce stood in line for the Jungle River Cruise. In front of him, about a couple turns ahead, was Samantha. She was taking that tour with one of the people she'd eaten dinner with the night before, a Dr. Ellie Sattler.

It would be well and good that Samantha would know where everything was on the River, but Bryce wanted a look for himself. He wasn't expecting a twenty-two year old journalist fresh out of college to be able to pinpoint natural ambush sites or anything of that sort.

Bryce sat down in his seat as the boat started on its track. Samantha was unfortunately on the boat directly in front of him. He could at least keep an eye on her, unfortunately that was about all he could do. The three North Koreans from yesterday were on the boat with her and Ellie. Maybe they were on a reconnaissance mission of their own, but Bryce couldn't help but imagine something serious was about to erupt and today. Behind them was the Baroness.

Little did he realize how right he was. Benny and Kevin Volchak, two brothers, two members of the Friends of Humanity walked onto the boat. At an approved signal they would start a hostage situation on the boat. They and other cells of FoH members, and personnel from COBRA and a small NKPA contingent would cause acts of sabotage and disruption throughout the island, creating distractions for Jurassic Park's Security Forces. On the East Dock, the main COBRA and NKPA task force would seize and take the genetic's lab...

Samantha Grayson took several photos with her digital camera as they passed into the area called Sauropod cove. Two Brachiosaurs were soaking in the large lake, big eyes looking at the tour boats with mild disinterest.

The boats continued around another bend. "_The Maiasaurus or good mother lizard lives up to its name. Infant Maiasaurs stay in the birth environment for extended periods of time. The infants you see amongst the adults are not natural births. They are new arrivals from the hatchery, and the adults instinctively raise them as their own..." _

It was just then that the boats stopped in the middle of the Maiasaurus' paddock. Bryce reached a hand for his concealed holster.

From a maintenance building on the shore of the lake, an FOH saboteur sent a text message to several cellphones on the two boats.

Samantha wanted to say something to one of the three Korean men sitting behind her, when she found herself facing a pistol to her face.

"All of you! Stay where you are! Do not move or you will be shot!" One of them declared, pressing the weapon to Samantha's head.

Samantha blinked her eyes, tears streaming down her eyes, noticing an utter lack of pity in the eyes of the man pointing the gun at her head. She closed her eyes tight again.

"Don't kill her, yet. She might prove to be of use." The Baroness began, "After all she is associated with the strongman and the paramilitary man that killed some of your colleagues...

_Damn it..._Bryce thought as he saw the other boat. It was then that two FOH thugs drew handguns from their belts.

"Nobody move!" Kevin Volchak shouted, raising his pistol and firing a single shot into the air.

Just then, one of the Maiasaurs' nearest the first boat was alarmed by the noise and rammed the first boat, sending it off the tracks and drifting in the strong currents towards a large, walled compound that Bryce knew to be the Raptor Containment Area.

"You there!" Kevin shouted, "Get your hands where I can..."

Bryce knew that now was the time for action. Volchak hauled Bryce to his feet just as Bryce drew his weapon and squeezed off half a dozen rounds at point blank range into Volchak's chest and abdomen. Volchak staggered back several paces.

Benny raised his weapon, aiming it at Bryce. Bryce turned around rapidly and squeezed off two rounds to the chest that staggered Benny. A third shot was fired, drilling the FOH thug through the head.

Bryce scanned the area for threats, seeing only frightened people. "Calm down! I'm here to help..."

The first boat had already drifted through into the Raptor Containment Area and Bryce knew that only one option remained to him. He stuck the Glock back into his holster, grabbed his pack, which he'd put several improvised floatation devices into, and swam towards the far bank and the underbrush...

Samantha felt the boat drift through the canals. "_JP01, this is Control, we're sending a launch to pick you up at the East Dock..." _

_No, don't send anyone..._Ellie thought.

---

"The National Weather service is tracking a tropical storm, about 200 miles west of us." Muldoon began.

"Aye yi yi yi yi, why didn't I build in Orlando." Hammond began.

"I'll keep an eye on it, maybe it will swing south like the last one." Muldoon replied.

Just then an alarm went off. "Two hostage situations on the Jungle River Cruise. Gunfire reported."

"Deploy the Reaction Force." Muldoon shouted.

"What the hell! What the hell!" Arnold shouted.

"What now?" Hammond asked.

"One of the boats, _JP01_ has just breached the Raptor Containment Area." Arnold replied.

"The fences?" Muldoon asked.

"They seem to be holding for now." Arnold replied.

Dennis Nedry watched this all occur, planning how he would use this disruption to hide his theft. If they didn't tighten security up all over the park. So far Jurassic Park was at Code Yellow, the second level of Threat Reaction. If it got so bad that it was Blue or Red, Nedry might not be able to carry out his plan.

But this could well work to his advantage. If the reaction units were racing all over the park trying to contain threats or escaped dinosaurs then it would give him some more opportunities to sneak off to the East Dock.

---

Samantha Grayson watched as the two North Korean soldiers hauled the dead body of the Jurassic Park River Patrol Boat man and tossed it into the canal. Another soldier stood guard while the Baroness filed her nails, regarding Samantha the way a crocodile regards a meal.

"So, Miss Grayson," The Baroness asked, "What do you know about this man, this Bryce, who attacked some of their colleagues."

"I only know his name..." Samantha said, innocently, "I don't know anything about him."

"A likely story, considering you've been traveling with him and that big lout." The Baroness replied.

"I've only known him for a couple of days." Samantha replied.

"I would suggest you be more honest with me, Miss Grayson." the Baroness said, "Before I turn you over to these three. They are very angry with Bryce killing some of them. And I'm sure they would love to take out some of that fury on you."

Samantha felt her blood turn to ice with fear. The Baroness reached across the distance between them and fingered the lapel of Samantha's white blouse. "Such a nice blouse...I would hate to see it stained with blood..."

---

Miguel Cruz chambered a round into his 12-gauge shotgun as Anthony Garcia, his team leader, loaded a clip into his Beretta 92FS. There had been yet another security alert sounded. This one took place in the Cretaceous Courtyard Hotel bar.

The other eleven members of the reaction force were scrambling out of the armory, heading towards the bar.

Meanwhile at the bar, several FOH infiltrators, armed with knives and a few handguns, had tried to take hostages amongst a bunch of easily annoyed Manchester United fans and Mr. Hyde.

Hyde picked up one FOH member by the legs before body slamming him head first into the floor. "That's for shooting my drink you prick!" Hyde shouted. Right about now he was eager to take out some wrath and these FOH bastards were giving him a perfectly legal excuse to dish out some.

Mad Max broke a bottle over the head of an FOH thug trying to brain Hyde with a lead pipe. He followed up the bottle strike with a hit from a set of brass knuckles he was wearing on his right wrist.

An FOH thug shot the beer tap shouted, "EVERYBODY DOWN! NOBODY MOVE!"

He instantly regretted his action as he was smashed into the wall by a barstool flung by an extremely angry Edward Hyde.

Three hooligans were currently bashing the crap out of another FOH man that had shot one of their number.

Hyde was currently airplane spinning another FOH member over his head before flinging him through the bar window like a javelin.

Just then Cruz shot the door hinges out with a shotgun and kicked the door down. The twelve man squad smashed in the door just in time to see the Manchester United fans attacking the FOH.

"Oi! Those wankers destroyed the beer!"

"'old that one still Cecil, let me clobber 'im!!!"

"Oh thank God!" one of the FOH members said, "Security's here. Please arrest us! We started the fight! Arrest us! Please!!! These people are insane...HELP!!!"

The FOH member yelled as Hyde grabbed him by his ankles and swung him like a bat just before one of the security men hit Hyde with a taser...

---

"All incidents have been contained." Muldoon reported, inwardly he wasn't so sure about the Mexican standoff going on in the Raptor Containment Area, but it seemed like the little incidents going on around the park were being contained.

He couldn't help but imagine something worse was about to occur. And then there was the message regarding the SS Venture, the large supply ship that gave Jurassic Park its supplies on a weekly basis.

Muldoon glanced at the screen for a grand total of one second, as he returned to sorting out the half-a-dozen other assorted crisis' going on in Jurassic Park. According to initial reports the attackers were from an organization called the Friends of Humanity.

Had he looked at the screen showing the Venture of the dock, he would have seen several armed soldiers sneaking off the vessel...

---

Denis Nedry knew he had to put his plan into action and he clicked the mouse, executing his plan that cut Jurassic Park off from the rest of the world and secured power to all but the raptor fences. He quickly made his way to the genetics lab, where, as he anticipated, most of the staff was at dinner, before stealing fifteen samples and running out of the room to a gas jeep where he started off into the park.

---

Meanwhile Bryce was making his way down the maintenance road, looking for a narrow enough point to swim across the River or better still find a bridge or small boat to try and get to the Raptor Containment Area and help Samantha.

He had already reassembled his AK-47 and donned his combat webbing. Something told him that a great disaster was going to hit when the storm struck violently. He got off the road and into a small, concrete structure just off the trail.

He heard more noise just then, coming from the direction of the Visitor's Center. It sounded like gunfire.

---

Samantha looked behind her as the large boat drifted inside the boat house. She was thankful that the Baroness had ordered the two NKPA soldiers to shut the door behind them. Unfortunately they had closed it in front of the third soldier who had several recently freed Velociraptors chasing him around.

The man was banging against the heavy doors with desperation, "Let me in! Let me in!"

"No! No! AAGGHH!!!!" The screams came a few seconds later with a wet ripping sound abruptly cutting them off.

"The attack has already begun." The Baroness replied, smiling.

"Attack? What attack?" Samantha replied.

"Why to steal some important genetic material from InGen, their research is years ahead of us and a third interested party...or two." The Baroness replied.

"But you'll release those dinosaurs, on all those people and..." Samantha began and within moments realized, "That's the point, wasn't it? You don't care about collateral damage..."

"You are perceptive..." The Baroness replied, sarcastically as the water in the boathouse began to ripple, as if from an impact tremor.

---

The Jurassic Park Control Room was a scene of pandemonium. Blood sprayed as Wu had never seen it before. Several strange looking men with cobra heads stamped on their uniforms together with North Korean soldiers with assault rifles had stormed into the lab, killing or severely injuring several technicians.

Kathy was currently holding onto him for dear life. The poor woman was terrified, and bleeding. A stray round had skipped off the floor and grazed her arm. Wu set to work trying to patch up her arm with strips torn from his lab coat.

Elsewhere gunfire could be heard as some Jurassic Park security personnel were exchanging shots with the attacking COBRAs and North Koreans, who were quickly withdrawing with the genetic material and information they had come to steal.

---

Meanwhile Bryce had climbed up a rusting old set of metal rungs up the walls of the Raptor Containment Area. He climbed down into the compound and headed for the boathouse, hoping to God he wasn't too late. He'd passed at least three dismembered bodies of Jurassic Park guards.

The large doors were barricaded from the inside, but there had to be a way in somehow he just had to look up. Bryce glanced upward and noticed the ventilation ducts. He looked around the building, finding no ladders, but a tall palm tree nearby.

Bryce climbed the palm tree, to the top, readying himself to jump to the roof of the building. Within a few seconds he was airborne and remembered how the parachute landing fall worked, rolling and letting his body shunt the shock away. He recovered his weapon and then opened the ventilation duct, climbing inside, finding himself in a small office. He felt the floor shake under his feet when the roof caved in and a deafening roar sounded.

Bryce stared out of the small window, helpless as the Tyrannosaurs' head poked down through the roof and clamped its arm around an unsuspecting guest, hauling the woman screaming into the air before the loud crunch of bones could be heard.

The two surviving North Koreans fired their pistols at the dinosaur. The Tyrannosaurus didn't even blink before grabbing one of them and then the other and devouring them both.

Bryce flung the door of the tiny office open, waving his arms and shouting, running along a metal catwalk.

Samantha looked up from the boat, hearing the racket from upstairs, seeing Bryce running along the narrow catwalk.

"Samantha! Run!" Bryce shouted before jumping from the catwalk, towards the water with a loud splash.

Bryce swam downward, kicking downward and forward as the T-Rex poked its head into the water, as if bobbing for apples. Bryce kicked until he was underneath the dock, feeling the burn as he exhaled, slowly letting the air in his lungs out. He watched from under the dock as Samantha and several other tourists, ran or swam away from the T-Rex's snapping jaws, hiding among cargo containers and barrels.

---

TBC - Coming up next, the rest of the Jurassic Park Chapter and our heroes journey to a land of old cartoons.


	5. Toon Lagoon

**Toon Lagoon**

**Disclaimer: Same as before...**

**Author's Note(s): To the anonymous reviewer's question, I have an answer. Organization XIII sends COBRA and the FOH as well as numerous Heartless and Nobodies after Bryce, Samantha, and Hyde.**

---

"Bryce!" Samantha shouted, as the T-Rex lumbered away. She was sure the half-Indian had been killed, either by the T-Rex, or had drowned when she saw him kick his legs and swim downward.

"Oh God..." Samantha said, gasping, knowing that several people had been killed, Bryce probably being one of them. The wave of emotions that hit her was intense. Relief she was still alive. Terror at how close she came to being killed either by the hostage takers, or the COBRAs. Unexpected sorrow that Bryce was in all likelihood dead...

Ellie instinctively took the younger woman in her arms feeling warm tears soak into her shirt. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised..."

Bryce climbed up the dock, spitting water from his mouth, rifle still in hand. "Oh thank God you're alive..." Samantha began, "How did you get past that dinosaur...I thought he got you when he was bobbing under water."

"I swam as far as I could under the dock. The dinosaur couldn't get to me there." Bryce replied.

"I was worried." Samantha replied.

"What about Hyde?" Bryce asked, "Have you seen him.:

Samantha shook her head. Bryce replied, "We've got to go find him and somehow get the hell off this island."

"Bryce, we can't do that." Samantha replied.

"Yes we can. Yes we will." Bryce replied.

"Bryce, all those people out there. We can't leave them to die." Samantha replied, pleading, "Come on, weren't you a soldier before. I thought soldiers protected people who couldn't protect themselves..."

Bryce stared, impassive for a few moments before saying loudly to the surviving tourists, some of whom were restraining the Baroness. "Alright." Bryce replied, "This is what we'll do. The Visitor's Center, and the emergency bunkers are the safest places for these people right now. Hammond and his people obviously already know this, as do the tourists."

"What about you?" Samantha asked.

"I'm going to help Hammond's guys get this park back together. But maybe a bit of information from the Baroness here may be a bit helpful..." Bryce replied.

"I'll never talk..." Baroness said snidely, straining against her bonds.

"Very well then, I don't have any use for you." Bryce replied, flicking the selector switch on his AK to single fire.

"Bryce..." Samantha warned, "This isn't right."

"She wouldn't balk at causing your death, or the deaths of God knew how many innocent people." Bryce replied, coldly.

"You can't just kill her." Samantha reasoned.

"Samantha, this woman ordered at least one massacre while buffing her nails. She brushed her hair while people died. I'm not about to let her get away with this." Bryce replied.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze too long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." Ellie Sattler began.

"Baroness, I'm not going to kill you." Bryce replied, "I am going to leave you tied up in this warehouse and let some other creature do that work. I hear death by compy is rather painful..."

"Wait!" The Baroness began as Bryce began to shepherd people out to the entrance.

"What." Bryce replied.

"I'm not telling you anything of value, but just to inform you that the Organization has you three marked. They have no intention of allowing you to leave the Five Islands alive..." The Baroness shouted to the retreating group.

---

The Emergency bunkers were scenes of activity and carnage. Wounded tourists and park workers were being treated by some Jurassic Park medical staff. Ellie went to help a wounded black man, who was clutching his left arm, from several feet away Samantha could see the radius and ulna protruding through the skin.

"Mommy, where's my Mommy." A little six year old girl wailed.

Samantha watched as Jurassic Park employees and frightened civilians were milling about, not even giving the terrified girl a second glance. Several Jurassic Park security force members were unlocking some large steel cabinets containing a wide assortment of weapons. She saw Bryce was running towards Robert Muldoon, coordinating the efforts.

"Hey..." Samantha began, as she sat next to the terrified kid, sitting beside her, not quite knowing what to say but wanting to try and help the poor child anyway. She put an arm around the child's narrow shoulders, holding her close, "They're looking for your mommy and everyone else out there."

The child sniffled and Samantha asked, "What's your name?"

"Sharon..." the girl replied.

Bryce wandered over to them and said, "I don't see Hyde anywhere right now."

"Do you think he's..." Samantha began, not wanting to spook Sharon.

"I don't know, honestly." The CIA paramilitary replied, and handed Samantha a radio and there was a second one on his belt with a headset, "I'll go out there and look for him, but there's no guarantees that I'll find him or that I'll even come back."

Sharon clutched at Samantha's side. The half-breed man with a gun was talking scary. "Bryce," Samantha began, "You're scaring the kid."

"Look, we'll discuss tact and scaring kids in survival situations later...If I don't find him, or come back, I want you to look for Hyde or find your way off this island and get yourself out of here with the remaining Ansem reports." Bryce replied.

"Bryce..." Samantha began.

Bryce turned around as Samantha regarded him with her soulful brown eyes, "Be careful."

Bryce nodded as he switched the safety off his AK and ran behind a Jurassic Park reaction force element. Samantha watched him go, feeling the same worry she had felt earlier when the T-rex had nearly eaten Bryce.

"Robert," Hammond said, concern etching his voice, "I wonder if you'd be good enough to take a gas jeep and bring back my grandchildren…"

"Sure." Muldoon replied.

"I'm going with him." Ellie replied.

Samantha stood up just then, "Ellie, I want to go too."

"Absolutely not. I can't babysit two people while looking for my boss' grandchildren." Muldoon snapped back as he unlocked a steel cabinet, taking a Franchi SPAS 12 shotgun and inserting several red plastic shells, "This is a man's job, too tough for girls."

"We can discuss sexism in survival situations later." Samantha remarked, throwing on a yellow Jurassic Park rain slicker.

---

Dennis Nedry jumped into a jeep, the modified shaving cream can with all fifteen animal species in his JanSport backpack. He didn't realize that his bag had a GPS tag implanted into it by Peter Ludlow, who tracked his progress on a laptop.

The sign as he approached the gate into the park read 'Danger, 10,000 Volts' but Nedry knew the fence was turned off. He pushed it open with one hand as sheets of rain fell, soaking everything and anything exposed.

In his private office, which was a very well protected space, Ludlow watched the screen of his laptop showing a map of the island, showing a red moving dot, briefly stopping at the Park's main gate.

Nedry continued through the driving rain, cursing, checking his watch. This damn storm was fogging up his glasses and the windows of the jeep. Six-forty five. _God damn it. God damn it._

"GOD DAMN IT!!!" Nedry shouted as the large white sign reared up in his view. CRASH!The jeep fishtailed into the sign as Nedry slammed the brakes on.

Nedry cursed again when he stepped out and saw that the sign was the sign that pointed the way to the East Dock. He pointed the arrow at one fork in the road, then the other, before spinning it with frustration and following the road further into the park.

As Ludlow watched Nedry's progress, he couldn't help but smile snidely. Nedry was going the wrong way. The bastard thought he was so clever, but in reality he was a fool. He was little more than a pasty to pin this entire disaster on, and secure Ludlow's own rise to power.

"I should have been there by now. Should've been there by now…" Nedry grumbled as he looked at his watch. Six-fifty-five. Five minutes and…CRASH.

"Damn!" Nedry swore as the jeep crashed through a barrier and went over a fallen tree off the road. He walked out of the jeep seeing that he couldn't back out, he went over to the power winch in the front of the jeep and began to pull on the steel hook and cable assembly, dragging the cable down the hill before slipping and falling.

It watched the clumsy creature from the fronds of a thick stand of ferns, as it emerged from the strange egg with lights. The creature had just fallen down the hill.

A strange hooting sound could be heard as Nedry groped around on the bottom of the hill, reaching around the mud for his glasses. "My glasses. I can afford more glasses…"

He turned around as he heard the hooting sound. There wasn't a damn thing there. He headed over to the bole of a large tree, away from the hooting sound. It was damned creepy out there. No signs of it. He wrapped the cable around the tree, hearing the strange hooting-crooning sound again.

He peeked around the tree, in time to see a small, relatively frail looking dinosaur, standing roughly five feet tall. "Yeah, that's nice," Nedry began, and walked off saying, "Gotta go…"

He heard another hoot and turned around. The dinosaur looked harmless as it regarded Nedry with wide eyes. "Nice boy. Nice boy. Nice dinosaur. I thought you were one of your big brothers, you're not so bad."

The dinosaur continued to regard Nedry, "What do you want, you want some food? Look at me, I just fell down a hill, I'm soaking wet, I don't have any food."

The dinosaur looked at Nedry again who continued his tirade, "I have no food on me. I have nothing on me. See the stick, see the stick. Yeah, yeah. Stick, stick stupid. Fetch the stick boy."

The dinosaur stood its ground, though its eyes followed the stick. "You don't like the stick…Ah no wonder you're extinct. I'm gonna run you over when I come back down."

Nedry continued up the hill and heard the dinosaur again. He turned around just in time to hear the creature hiss with an accompanying rattling sound as a large, colorful frill flared out on the dinosaurs neck. At the same time a wet blob smacked into his chest. Nedry touched the sticky black fluid, just a bit more viscous than road tar. It burned the skin. He ran for the jeep. Another blob struck his face around the eyes and it felt like his face was on fire.

He fled into the jeep rubbing at his eyes. Luckily he'd closed them before the dinosaur had spat into his face. A fat lot of good eyesight did him when he heard the same rattling sound, seeing the dinosaur inside the jeep with him.

The jeep shook as Nedry's screams echoed into the jungle night…

---

Samantha beheld a scene of chaos when the jeep arrived just outside the Tyrannosaur paddock. "Where's the other car?" Ellie asked, as she noticed one of the electric Ford Explorers, which traveled in pairs, was missing.

"Where's the other car?" Ellie asked again as she, Muldoon and Samantha grabbed flashlights.

"Alan!" Ellie shouted, as she shined the light about.

"Dr. Grant!" Muldoon shouted.

"Alan!" Ellie added.

"Grant!" Muldoon shouted.

"Oh my God…" Samantha remarked, closing her eyes as she stood amidst the ruins that were the thatch hut bathroom.

"I think this was Gennaro." Muldoon said as he upended a palm frond with one booted foot.

"I think this was too." Samantha said, sickened at the sight of a severed forearm.

"There's a stand of brush over there so you can lose your lunch." Muldoon replied sternly.

Samantha didn't need to be told twice. She ran behind the bushes and promptly lost her lunch. She groped around her handbag until she found the half full tin of Altoids. Grabbing two of them she stuffed them in her mouth, trying to kill the aftertaste of vomit.

"Samantha? Are you alright?" Ellie asked.

"I've felt better." Samantha replied, weakly.

"Hey, it's not every day that you see..." Ellie began.

Samantha was about to reply when a groan interrupted her. She spun round, seeing that the moan came from a pile of palm fronds and thatch. She pulled the fronds away with Ellie's help and the two women saw Ian Malcolm lying on his back, one leg bent and crooked at a weird angle.

"He put a tourniquet on..." Ellie began. Muldoon came running just then.

"Ian? Ian?" Samantha began, gently tapping his face.

"Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend." Ian replied.

"Can we chance moving him?" Ellie asked Muldoon.

"Please chance it." Ian replied as a distant roar sounded.

Samantha and Muldoon helped Malcolm into the Jeep. Ellie ran over to the wall. "Ellie come on!" Muldoon said, as another distant roar echoed.

"The other car!" Ellie shouted. Muldoon rushed over, indicating to Samantha to stay with Muldoon.

"Dr. Grant!" Muldoon began after he and Ellie climbed down.

"Alan?" Ellie said, fear and pain in her voice.

Muldoon tugged on her sleeve. Three sets of footsteps led deeper into Jurassic Park, there was hope after all.

Meanwhile Samantha heard a garbled transmission from the radio she carried in her handbag. "Bryce?"

"If you thought escaped dinosaurs, COBRAs and North Korean intelopers were bad news, I've got even more." Bryce began. A burst of gunfire could be heard, as well as Bryce swearing.

"Bryce?" Samantha asked, visibly worried.

"I'm still here, barely." Bryce replied, "Be careful there are several Dusks running around the Park..."

Samantha felt the ground shake. Ian Malcolm glanced at the water filled footprint of the Tyrannosaur. "Did you feel that?"

Samantha nodded. "It's an impact tremor that's what it is..." Malcolm continued.

Ellie and Muldoon were approaching the jeep just then. "We gotta get out of here. We gotta get out of here. Now. Now. Right now!" Malcolm was shouting.

Ellie and Muldoon reached the Jeep just in time to see the T-Rex burst from the foliage, roaring. Muldoon started the engine and floored the gas pedal.

"Must go faster..." Malcolm began, as the T-Rex took two mighty strides toward them.

"Look out!" Ellie screamed.

"Down!" Muldoon shouted as the Jeep passed underneath a fallen tree, smashing the windscreen.

The T-Rex snapped its jaws, snapping the right mirror, narrowly missing Samantha's arm. She shut her eyes and leaned forward.

"Get off the stick!" Muldoon shouted as Samantha's leaning had moved the stick into the first gear.

"Bloody move!" Muldoon added. Samantha shifted her weight and Muldoon moved the shift, jamming his foot into the gas pedal.

The Jeep put on an extra burst of speed and distanced itself from the Rex. "Think they'll have that on the tour..." Malcolm commented.

Muldoon was about to reply when he saw it. It was a vague impression, as the jeep was traveling at sixty miles per hour, a gray elongated body, no face so to speak. Muldoon didn't dare slam on the brakes, the T-Rex was still around. WHAM! The jeep smashed bodily into the Nobody, and its occupants could hear the sickening crunch of bone. Samantha turned in time to see the mangled remains of a Dusk twitching in the middle of the road...

----

Bryce switched magazines on his AK, cursing the fact that this battle with the Nobodies had eaten up two magazines of ammunition of 7.62x39 mm ammunition. Finding 9mm rounds hadn't been hard, Jurassic Park's armory was full of them. Finding ammo for his AK had been a good bit harder. The occasional NKPA or COBRA Viper carrying that sort of weapon provided a source of ammo.

"Samantha?" Bryce began on the radio, in time to hear a roar.

_Dear God..._Bryce thought.

"Bryce?" Samantha's voice answered on the other side.

"Are you alright?" Bryce asked.

"I'm fine. Shaken, but I'm fine." Samantha replied.

"Good. I think our friend Mr. Nobody just put in an appearance or three..." Bryce replied.

"I ran into one on the road. Muldoon hit it with the Jeep." Samantha replied.

"This could be a disaster. Stay where you are, I'll see if I can't collect Hyde and get us out of here..." Bryce replied.

---

Samantha sat in the emergency bunker, beside Sharon. "Did you find my mommy?" Sharon asked.

"No, not yet." Samantha replied, and then brightened as she reached for her radio, "Bryce?"

Over the radio, Bryce reply sounded, "Yes?"

"What's your mommy's name?" Samantha asked Sharon.

"Rose, my mommy's name is Rose." Sharon replied.

"Could you look for a person named Rose?" Samantha asked.

"I would if I had a last name. I mean Rose being a common name..." Bryce replied, "And why do you have me doing this?"

"Bryce, please..." Samantha said, "This little girl's all alone in this bunker. Could you please help?"

"Alright, ask her what her mother's last name is?" Bryce asked.

"Sweetie, Mr. Bryce can't find your mommy if he doesn't know her last name." Samantha began.

Sharon pulled a little medical bracelet from around her right wrist. Samantha read it. "DaSilva. Her mother's name is Rose DaSilva."

"I'll see what I can do." Bryce replied.

"Hey, got yourself a little friend?" Ellie asked.

Samantha whispered Ellie's ear, "She can't find her mother...I've got Bryce looking."

"Do you think that..." Ellie began.

"I hope not." Samantha replied, eyes flickering to Sharon who was sitting quietly drawing something on her sketch pad.

"I'll go check on Malcolm." Ellie began.

"How is he?" Samantha asked.

"He's regained consciousness." Ellie replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Samantha replied, picking up on Ellie's tone.

"He's been going on about 'other dimensions' and 'alternate realities' since he woke up." Ellie replied.

Samantha felt her blood turn to ice. Did Malcolm suspect that she wasn't from this reality?

"Are you alright?" Ellie asked, noticing Samantha seemed obviously distressed.

"I'm alright." Samantha said, "I'm just a little worried, there are still people out there..."

"Bryce?" Ellie asked.

"How long have you..." Ellie replied.

"He's just a friend." Samantha replied, adding, "I'm actually seeing someone else, back in Chicago."

"Oh." Ellie replied as Samantha turned her attention back to Sharon.

"What've you got there, sweetie?" Samantha asked.

Sharon was now fast asleep. Samantha put a blanket around the sleeping child's shoulders. Sharon was muttering something incoherently, "Wimpy...Popeye...Jeep...Dudley..."

Samantha's eyes fell upon the sketch pad. She could see several sketches, reminding her of her own childhood. Pictures of an assortment of cartoon characters. Popeye the sailor, Eugene the Jeep, Wimpy eating a hamburger, Olive Oyl, Sweet-Pea, Nell and Dudley Do-Right. She flipped to the next page.

The same characters were drawn on the next page. However there was a difference. Popeye was being overwhelmed by several Dusks. Wimpy was hanging upside down, clearly dead, from the sign of his favorite hamburger place. Eugene the Jeep was running with Sweet-Pea in its arms. Olive Oyl was desperately trying to use a frying pan to fight off more Nobodies...

Samantha turned the page again to see drawings of fire and ash, of ruined buildings, of the different characters lying dead. And in the center of the drawing was a drawing of the crossed out heart, the symbol of the Heartless.

"Samantha?" Ellie asked.

"What's going on?" Samantha asked.

"It's Malcolm, he wants to talk to you." Ellie replied, "Alone."

Samantha reluctantly headed over to the small room where Ellie was helping Dr. Harding treat Malcolm with the limited medical supplies they had.

"It's probably the morphine drip that's got him babbling about alternate dimensions." Dr. Harding, Jurassic Park's veterinarian replied, as he walked out of the room.

"Ah, Miss Grayson," Malcolm said, semi-lucidly, "you're not from around here, are you?"

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Malcolm replied, "Actually it isn't surprising, the existence of other realms and worlds. I'd explain more, but the mathematics of it would be a bit, ah, technical for you."

"What else do you know? How do you know?" Samantha asked.

"If I discussed how much I knew, Miss Grayson, I'd be here all night." Malcolm said, in the tone of a mildly bored professor, "But how I know about these other worlds? Simple. Physicists have always postulated that other dimensions may be possible. Yours is just one of an nth number of dimensions that exist in the universe, or as I prefer to call it, multiverse."

"What about the Heartless and the Nobodies?" Samantha asked.

"I sometimes think they're a kind of plague. Other times I think they're here to clear the decks, so to speak..." Malcolm replied.

"But that could mean the extinction of us. Of people." Samantha replied.

"So?" Malcolm replied, "Life always finds a way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Samantha asked.

"Life, living things, and not just people, will find a way to get rid of the Heartless and the Nobodies or they'll perish. It's simply the history of evolution. Life expands, crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but there it is..." Malcolm replied.

"But people might not..." Samantha began.

"Might not, what, survive. That doesn't mean other species won't, or other life won't. It may take a few millenia after the Heartless go for life to regain its present variety, but there you have it." Malcolm said, "We however, have the power, maybe not to save every dimension or every world, but we have the power to save ourselves..."

Samantha knew at that moment that she was going to do everything she could possibly do to make sure that people would save themselves. _They say the pen is mightier than the sword, I hope that also means the word processor is more powerful than the Heartless, or the Nobodies or prehistoric monsters or whatever six eyed, blade spitting monstrosities are out there..._Samantha thought.

---

Bryce crept towards the hotel sector, which he knew was a three way war zone. Jurassic Park reaction forces were dealing with Heartless and Nobodies together with the occasional COBRA or FOH, if the gunfire was any indication.

He heard the sounds of a squad breaking down a door just a floor up. He remembered being in that position in Iraq. The pulse pounding moments of running up to the stack, being clustered with the troops. The breacher standing there with his shotgun aimed at the hinges. The nod of the first man. The shots that destroyed the door lock. Everybody inside. First man followed swiftly by his second, moving in opposite directions, searching the room no wider than a few feet, where an insurgent could easily pop up and kill you immediately.

He knew not to surprise such a squad. A man with a gun in that situation could easily get himself shot, but if he had the help of the Jurassic Park Emergency Reaction Force on his hands his task could be a hell of a lot easier.

A radio crackled just then, "Squad One, cleared second floor. Hostiles, four neutralized. Casualties, none. Dead, five guests. Survivors seven..."

Bryce grabbed the radio just then and answered up, "Squad One, friendly personnel approaching your position. Do not open fire...I am a civilian armed with an AK-47, approaching your stairwell..."

Bryce took his hand off the rear handgrip of his AK as he stepped into view of a dozen armed men, carrying Beretta 9mm sidearms, shotguns and M-16s.

"Put your weapon down!" One of them shouted.

Bryce complied, putting his AK on the deck. "Get down on the ground, palms up! Keep your hands where we can see them."

"I'm the one who contacted you on the radio." Bryce began.

"So who the hell are you?" The squad leader, an Australian with a permanently sunburnt complexion, asked.

"Bryce Lightfoot, I'm a security contractor." Bryce replied. _Kinda true..._

"Where'd you get that AK?" The squad leader asked.

"I jumped one of those NKPA pricks, using the Glock that's concealed on my right hip." Bryce replied.

"You're taking point." The squad leader said.

"Right." Bryce replied, recovering his AK, flicking the safety catch to auto.

Bryce headed to another door, as a massive Costa Rican with a 12-gauge shotgun took station near the door jamb. Bryce nodded as soon as the Reaction Force Member behind him squeezed his left shoulder. The big Tican shotgunner fired three rounds into the hinge and gave the door a mighty kick.

Bryce charged inside the room, sweeping from the nearest corner to the furthest with the muzzle of his AK as the man behind him did the same with his sidearm. Suddenly a Nobody popped up between them. Both Bryce and the squad leader fired, hitting the Dusk with almost twenty rounds of 7.62 and 9mm rounds, nearly ripping the creature in half.

Bryce kept moving, old juices from Iraq and Mexico flowing, his AK held in such a way that he could snap it up and fire if need be. "Closed door right." Bryce called.

"Ruiz." the squad leader said.

The big Tican chambered another shotgun round, aiming it at the doorknob. A single loud blast tore the lock apart as Ruiz kicked the door open. Bryce charged in, with Talbot, the squad leader, right behind him.

---

"Something's wrong." Ellie began, "Something's wrong. He should've been back by now..."

Ellie was referring to Ray Arnold, who had left the emergency bunker fifteen minutes ago to restart power. The engineer had since not been heard from.

"We've got to restart the power. We have to call for medical help for Malcolm and the others." Ellie began.

"Let's not be to hasty, I mean he's only been gone..." Hammond replied.

Ellie grabbed a radio and stuck it on her belt, with a headset. Samantha followed Ellie. "You two can't just stroll down the road..." Muldoon began, bringing up the shotgun and loading several more rounds into the magazine together with more on his vest and a thick web belt, "You're not exactly headed to the mall..."

Hammond spread out a set of plans, "This isn't going to be like switching on a kitchen light, but I think I can look at this and then talk you through it..."

Ellie, Samantha and Muldoon moved out towards the power station, past the western fence of the Raptor containment area. The bodies of two guards lay torn apart near the concrete wall, the wiring atop the fence had been chewed through.

A dead North Korean raider lay face down on the sand, his rib cage split open in four places from raking claws, his innards ripped apart by the jaws of the raptors.

The trio continued down towards the road. "I see the shed, we can make it if we run..." Ellie began.

"No, we can't..." Muldoon replied, "Because we're being hunted, from the palms straight ahead. It's alright..."

Muldoon's voice was calm, collected, his face a mask of focus. He knew exactly what the hell he was going to do right now. "Run, towards the shed...I've got her...run...now!"

Ellie and Samantha took off towards the shed, Samantha stumbled, the pumps she wore weren't exactly suitable for running around on a jungle trail. Ellie helped her to her feet.

The two women slammed the chain link fence behind them and ran into the power station. "OK we're in..." Ellie said over the radio, switching her flashlight on.

"There's a metal staircase going downstairs. Follow it." Hammond began.

Following Hammond's directions lead them to a fenced in area with two generators, and a bank of circuit breakers. Hammond read out the instructions for restarting power, and Samantha and Ellie complied.

"I think we're back in business..." Ellie began.

Samantha smiled wearily and then screamed. The head of a velociraptor poked its way through a tangle of pipes, narrowly missing Ellie.

Both women backed out of the space and Ellie banged against a pipe. Something brushed her shoulder. "Oh Mr. Arnold..." She sighed with relief and then let out a terrified shriek. Arnold's severed arm dropped to the floor.

Ellie scrambled one way, and Samantha another. Ellie headed for the front door, the way they'd come in. Samantha raced over to a back exit she saw and felt the heel of her right pump catch in the catwalk. She tripped forward. The raptor chose to pursue Samantha when it saw her stumble.

_I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna make it. I'm gonna die. Oh God! No! _Samantha thought as she ran out the back door. The raptor smashed through the door and was almost upon her.

"ARRAAGGGHHH!!!!" A loud bellow echoed from the brush as the raptor was promptly tackled by Mr. Hyde running at full speed. The two creatures skittered across the field in a tangle of limbs, tail and jaws.

The raptor sunk its teeth into Hydes' forearm.

"AGH!" Hyde screamed before grabbing the Raptor's upper jaw, jamming a finger into the eye sockets before twisting the head like a jar lid. Samantha heard the crunching of bones as Hyde stood up, shaken but not seriously harmed.

"Are you alright?" Hyde asked.

Samantha numbly nodded before noticing Hyde's right arm was bleeding. "You're bleeding..."

"It's only a small cut for Christ's sake." Hyde remarked.

"No, let me help you." Samantha said, as they headed back to the emergency bunker.

As they sat down inside the bunker, Samantha began to break open a first aid kit, taking some antiseptic as she began to treat Hyde's injuries. "OW!" Hyde shouted.

"Will you sit still." Samantha replied, "You're like a big baby."

"Oi! That stuff is worse than liquid fire!" Hyde snapped back.

"It's just rubbing alcohol." Samantha replied.

"Just give me a stiff drink for the love of God." Hyde replied.

"Sit still and let me help you." Samantha replied firmly.

Hyde complied as Samantha put some gauze padding around the bite and then wrapped a bandage around it. With the exception of the firewater that she had put on his wounds, Samantha's touch was soothing and warm.

He smiled, despite himself. It had been a long time since anyone had shown him any kindness. Most of London feared Edward Hyde, shortly after the disappearance of Dr. Jeckyll. Since permanently transforming into Mr. Hyde, the Jeckyll side had largely vanished. Hyde, after being chased from London, had gone into a self imposed exile, claiming he needed no further human contact. Yet Samantha's kindness and compassion brought out warm feelings he hadn't felt in a long time...

"Oi, where's Bryce?" Hyde asked.

"I don't know." Samantha said, as she keyed the microphone of her radio. "Bryce?"

"I can't talk right now. We're about to secure Hammond's Bungalow..." Bryce began.

---

The Nobody was moving deeper into the jungle, and so was Muldoon. When the creature stopped, Muldoon extended the SPAS 12 shotgun's stock, slowly taking aim when another Dusk popped out from the bush, landing on top of him, pinning him to the ground, winding it's long arms around his neck. The world seemed to narrow, like an ever collapsing tunnel. The last thing he expected to hear was a burst of gunfire and the tunnel widening.

The Nobody was currently spastically twitching on the ground, shot full of several holes, spurting grayish blood onto the ground. "There's more of them in Hammond's bungalow." Bryce said as he helped Muldoon to his feet.

"Mr. Talbot, let's take back Hammond's Bungalow." Muldoon replied.

The squad approached the bungalow slowly, finding the doors were locked. Ruiz took a crowbar from his backpack and attacked the door, taking it of the hinges. Bryce burst into the antechamber, Muldoon right behind him. Four Dusks came out to meet them. Bryce gunned down two of them with a burst of fire from his AK and Muldoon blasted the other with burst of fire from his shotgun.

Bryce signaled with one hand to move down the corridor, towards the open door into the dining room. The security team entered, finding more Nobodies and gunning them down. Suddenly another side door opened.

"COBRA!!!!" shouted a trio of Alley Vipers, firing and killing Ruiz. The squad turned their guns on the Vipers and emptied entire magazines into their attackers, reloading and going into the next room.

Bryce charged through the next door into a pantry of some kind. Hiding underneath a shelf was a man with blondish brown hair and a slim build. "For God's sake, don't shoot me..."

"Get out from under there!" Bryce demanded, still training his weapon, "Keep your hands where I can see them."

The Englishman crawled out from underneath the shelf, "For God's sake, I'm not with those blokes."

"Get out of there." Bryce demanded. The man complied as two of the security team searched him, finding nothing.

Another team had just dragged a slim blonde woman from the living room, after killing several Nobodies that were hiding in the room.

"Rose!" The Englishman said, "Thank God."

"Chris!" Rose began, and embraced her husband.

"Rose daSilva?" Bryce asked.

"Yes." Rose replied, peering up curiously at Bryce.

"I think we've met someone very important to you..."

"Sharon? Oh my God...how..." Rose replied.

"She's fine." Bryce replied.

Sharon threw her arms happily around Chris, glad that her daughter had survived the disaster that Jurassic Park had become. Bryce led the DaSilvas and other survivors towards the bunker as Muldoon made a radio call, "Jurassic Park is secure..."

---

Samantha heard the door to the bunker open and turned around. Sharon shouted, "Mommy!" and ran up the staircase, "Daddy."

Chris and Rose embraced their daughter with more than a few tears. "Thank you mister..." Rose began.

"Bryce Lightfoot." Bryce replied.

Samantha looked warmly at Bryce and smiled her thanks. Bryce nodded in acknowledgment as John Hammond walked out of the bunker. Bryce, Samantha and Hyde went to follow him.

"GAAAHHH!!!!!" Hammond began, a strangled cry emanating from his voice as he saw his bungalow. Windows had been broken and shot away, the French Doors in the back had been shattered by a crashing raptor, as he walked inside he could see numerous antiques had been cracked, broken or shattered by gunfire.

"Who's responsible for this?" Hammond began. All the Jurassic Park security men pointed at Bryce.

---

"You'd think Hammond would be grateful that I helped get his park back in order." Bryce grumbled as they got back onto the boat that would take them to the next island.

"Bryce, you leveled his bungalow." Samantha replied.

"I did not level the bungalow, it was still standing when I left it." Bryce replied, "If he wanted to blame someone, blame Organization XIII."

"I do think grenades flung into each room, followed by bursts of automatic fire does constitute leveling." Hyde replied snarkily.

"Hey, there were Heartless in every single room, not to mention FOH sleepers and a couple COBRA agents. I wasn't taking chances." Bryce replied.

"It did the trick, but I you now have a letter that says you're no longer permitted to set foot on any InGen property for the rest of your natural life." Samantha remarked, "At least if I need someone to remodel my apartment I know who to call."

"Hey." Bryce remarked as Hyde guffawed.

"I was talking about you too." Samantha remarked, "And your drunken revelry with the British soccer hooligans."

"Oi, those were wankers that knew 'ow 'o 'ave fun." Hyde replied.

"Well having fun is good, but with as little devastation to the surrounding area as possible." Samantha replied, aiming her comment at both of the men.

Bryce couldn't help but smile. What the hell was it about that girl? He'd known girls like Samantha before. _Are you sure you have? What is it about this one that makes her not just some pretty twenty-something? _He hadn't felt this way about a woman for years, having lived a rather solitary life after the Army and now in the CIA. He had been very comfortable with his relatively solitary existence, but this woman, with her desire to stand for justice and truth, her idealism and passion for her trade of journalism, not to mention the fact that she was definitely a haunting beauty had melted right through his guarded exterior.

_What's he thinking? _Samantha thought, stealing a glance of Bryce. The half-Native American stared out towards the horizon, a look of deep concentration on his face. _What is it about this man that fascinates you? Is it because he's so mysterious, so guarded...? I mean I know next to nothing about Bryce aside from what he's told me. I can tell he's hiding something, the journalist in me isn't letting that go._

"I may have leveled the bungalow, but at least we got some innocent people to safety." Bryce replied.

"Will you bloody quit debating and let me 'ave my 'angover in peace..." Hyde grumbled.

---

Finally the boat stopped in another harbor and the three clambered ashore. Samantha was reminded of distant memories of her own childhood, the architecture of the island lent itself to that impression, a cheerful, vaguely nautical motif.

It was then that they noticed a three and a half foot tall creature, yellow in color, about the size of a medium sized dog, walking on its hind legs, and staring at the three humans.

"Jeep Jeep."

"Aww, it's adorable." Samantha began.

Hyde let out a savage roar."What? It's Eugene the Jeep, he's completely harmless." Bryce remarked.

"Jeep?"

"RARGGHH!!!" Hyde shouted and dove at Jeep.

Jeep promptly teleported several feet to the left as Hyde's flying tackle caused him to run smack into a pier piling.

"Jeep." Jeep said, and walked up the nearby cliff wall to the top of a hill.

"Let's follow it." Bryce began, "Maybe we can find some answers."

"Bloody Jeep..." Hyde replied, "I'll kill 'im, I'll kill 'im..."

"Hyde, what's gotten into you?" Samantha asked.

"He's gone nuts, that's what." Bryce replied, "Maybe it's this land. This is a land of old cartoons, if our pal Eugene the Jeep is any indication, and maybe it's causing Hyde to act crazy. We won't know until we look."

---

"And stay out!" Popeye shouted.

Bluto went flying several feet before landing on his back, propelled by Popeye's spinach powered fist. "Oh dear, I don't suppose you're having a good day."

"Who the hell are you?" Bluto asked.

"Someone who is interested in a business deal with you." Peter Ludlow replied, "One that will achieve everything you desire..."

"What do you have that I want?" Bluto replied.

"For starters, I may be able to help you get with your lady friend, without Popeye's interference." Ludlow replied.

"I'm listening..." Bluto said.

"But first," Ludlow replied, "You must do something for me."

"What?" Bluto asked.

"You must capture this creature called Jeep. Some...associates of mine are rather interested in him." Ludlow replied. He felt a certain compression around his heart, a certain painful feeling he'd been feeling these past few weeks.

---

"Well maybe we can find some answers here." Samantha said, pointing at a sign that said **Prof. Brainstine**.

The trio entered the lab of a short man with a long white beard, snow white hair, and wearing a derby hat, pinstriped trousers and a black jacket. Jeep walked into the room, teleporting through the wall just then.

"YOU!!!!" Hyde shouted and charged towards the animal. Jeep teleported himself into Samantha's arms as Hyde crashed through the wooden wall, making a massive hole in it and leaving a mess of debris on the floor.

As Samantha stared in amazement Jeep nuzzled and licked Samantha's face. "Hey, that tickles..." Samantha giggled.

Bryce laughed as he saw a severely annoyed Hyde lying amidst the wreckage of the wall. Hyde growled at both Jeep and Bryce. Samantha gave him a disapproving stare and Hyde suppressed all the rage inside.

"Oh dear." Professor Brainstine remarked.

Jeep turned towards Hyde and stuck out his tongue. "Jeep Jeep..."

"Professor." Bryce asked, "What exactly is Jeep? And why the hell is Mr. Hyde reacting so negatively to it."

"A Jeep is an animal living in a three dimensional world-in this case our world- but really belonging to a fourth dimensional world. Here's what happened. A number of Jeep life cells were somehow forced through the dimensional barrier into our world. They combined at a favorable time with free life cells of the African Hooey Hound. The electrical vibrations of the Hooey Hound cell and the foreign cell were the same. They were kindred cells. In fact, all things are to some extent are relative, whether they be of this or some other world, now you see. The extremely favorable conditions of germination in Africa caused a fusion of these life cells. So the uniting of kindred cells caused a transmutation. The result, a mysterious strange animal." Brainstine said formally, raising his right index finger.

"That's all well and good," Bryce replied, "But what about why Jeep's causing Mr. Hyde to act like a baboon."

"That's a good question, let us perform some experiments..." Brainstine replied.

"Hold on..." Samantha began.

"Just some simple tests to determine the extent of Mr. Hyde's sensory capabilities. I have a theory that something to do with Jeep's scent is causing your friend Mr. Hyde to go berserk." Brainstine replied.

Several moments later: "Your friend Mr. Hyde has a very acute sense of smell." Brainstine said.

"Just how acute?" Bryce asked.

"Put it this way, only a Bloodhound has a stronger sense of smell..." Brainstine said.

Just then a tall, very thin woman with shiny black hair walked into the room. "Jeep..." Jeep said, and jumped down from the ceiling where he had been standing, just out Hyde's reach.

"Aww, hi Jeep..." Olive began.

"Grrr..." Hyde growled.

"Who's this ugly brute?" Olive said.

"I do hope you were referring to my gunslinging counterpart." Hyde glowered, gesturing at Bryce.

"No, he meant you." Bryce snapped back.

"Brute?" Hyde replied, "I'll have you know I was once a gentleman of some renown in London..."

"Emphasis on the was..." Bryce snapped back.

"Will you two quit sniping at each other for five minutes." Samantha replied, frustrated. She had been almost eaten by dinosaurs, terrorized by ancient gods and dragons, been the prisoner of an irascible soul and a sadistic blonde woman, and now on some strange island where cartoons from her childhood were coming to life.

Jeep stuck its tongue out at Mr. Hyde. "Just you wait, wanker..." Hyde spat.

"Hyde..." Samantha said with a warning tone.

"I'm sorry," Brainstine said, and turning to Bryce, Hyde and Samantha said, "I didn't catch your names."

"Bryce Lightfoot."

"Edward Hyde. Call me Mr. Hyde."

"Samantha Grayson."

"Olive Oyl." The woman replied, "Are you three from around here? Where are you from?"

"Let's say we're from out of town and leave it at that." Bryce replied.

"Hey Olive I'm..." A muscular fellow in a sailor's outfit walked into the lab and stopped in his tracks, "Shiver me timbers, who are ye?"

"Popeye," Olive began, "This is Bryce, Hyde, and Samantha..."

"That's Mr. Hyde..." Hyde replied.

"They're not from around here." Olive replied.

"I can tell ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh..." Popeye replied.

"Look, this is going to come kind of suddenly, but have you seen any black robed guys, gray contortionist monsters or black glowing eyed things?" Samantha asked.

"No we haven't." Olive replied.

"Wait," Brainstine replied, "Dudley Do-Right, one of our Mounties, was by here saying that he'd seen a pair of glowing eyes in the deep woods, near the river."

"Bingo." Bryce replied.

"Jeep Jeep?" Jeep said.

"Did someone mention me?" A blonde haired, handsome man in the red tunic, blue trousers and black boots of a Mountie.

"Yes, in fact these two gentleman and the young lady are curious about the glowing eyes you saw in the woods." Brainstine replied.

"Well," Dudley replied, "I do believe we've not been formally introduced."

"Bryce Lightfoot."

"Ah, how." Dudley replied raising a hand.

"First of all, nice guess," Bryce replied, "I am in fact a Native American, an Arapaho..."

"Or 'alf Arapa'o..." Hyde remarked.

"And second of all," Bryce replied, glaring at Mr. Hyde, "No tribe I've heard of does the 'how' gesture."

"Ah, I apoogize oh warrior of the Sacred Plains." Dudley replied, "And who is this large specimen, he looks like trouble..."

"He is." Bryce replied.

"I am Mr. Hyde. Pay no attention to the 'alf-breed 'ere." Hyde replied.

Dudley turned to Samantha and gave her a gentle kiss on the hand. "Charmed to meet you miss..."

"Samantha Grayson."

Hyde glared at Dudley with an expression that screamed _Touch 'er again and I'll rip off your 'and, wanker... _

Bryce felt himself get a bit heated, finding himself glaring at Dudley and Samantha. "Nice to meet a gentleman..." Samantha replied._I had such a crush on Dudley-Do Right when I was ten..._

"Boyfriend?" Dudley asked Samantha, indicating Bryce.

Hyde snorted derisively. "No." Samantha replied.

"No need for jealousy, mister." Dudley said, "My heart belongs to another girl...her name is Nell."

"He's not really my type anyway." Samantha replied, "A bit too rough around the edges..."

_Although not too rough, and a bit too mysterious_..._Wait a second. Where did that come from? I mean I'm seeing Tyler back home..._Samantha replied.

_Why the hell am I getting jealous over this girl. It's not like I'm seeing her, or that I have any interest...Get back in the game, Lightfoot, in all probability when you get back to the real world, you're never gonna see her again. You'll be back to your life...all...by...your...lonesome..._Bryce thought. The idea of returning to his formerly solitary existence, carting across the world's hotspots didn't seem to appeal as it once did.

"Bryce?" Samantha asked.

"Huh." Bryce replied.

"Are you alright?" Samantha asked.

"I'm fine." Bryce replied.

_Uh huh..._Samantha thought. There was that mulling, musing expression, barely perceptible, but it was there. The look of an eternal bachelor contemplating the state of his life.

Bryce turned all business again, letting that brief glimpse she'd had disappear back under the implacable facade.

"So Dudley, what about this creature you saw in the woods?" Bryce replied.

"I only got a brief glimpse." Dudley replied, "But it was about three feet tall with glowing eyes..."

"I think we know what you're facing." Bryce replied, "Those creatures are called Heartless."

"What manner of creature is a Heartless?" Brainstine asked.

"I'm not so sure myself, but all I can say is that they're purely evil." Bryce replied

"Where do they come from?" Brainstine asked.

"We don't know yet." Samantha replied, "But all we know is you're world is in serious trouble if these things are around."

"JEEEP!!!!" came a terrified shriek.

Bryce and the others turned around in time to see two Nobodies dragging Jeep away. Bryce raised his rifle and Samantha smacked it down, "You'll hit Jeep."

"I would not." Bryce countered.

"POPEYE!!!" Olive shouted. A hulking, bearded brute was currently dragging Olive away.

"Stand away from her you!!!" Popeye said, about to jump into the fight when several Dusks jumped into his path.

Popeye fought, swinging his mighty fists, braining at least one or two Dusks with his powerful punches. But the sheer numbers were too much. One Dusk gave him a powerful strike into the midsection, doubling him. Two more Dusks held Popeye fast as Bluto dragged Olive off.

Bryce ran out into the fight, shooting steadily already, killing several Dusks. Hyde jumped into the fray, literally, descending and drop kicking one of Popeye's captors in the head with two massive bare feet. The sickening crunch of bone could be heard.

It was too late, Olive Oyl and Jeep were being dragged off towards the Huricane River. Sitting in a motor launch was Peter Ludlow.

"I knew it!" Bryce shouted as he saw Ludlow sitting at the helm, and he started the motor, driving the boat away.

"What do we do now?" Dudley asked.

"We go after them." Bryce replied, grimly, "Do you have a boat?"

"I'm a sailor, of course I have a boat..." Popeye snapped back.

"Good." Bryce replied.

---

"What is that thing?" Bryce asked, as they looked at what looked like a small cartoon steam boat.

"Me ship, the Olive." Popeye replied.

"What a piece of junk..." Bryce remarked.

"Watch what you say!" Popeye snapped.

"This thing 'ill brave the rapids after Bluto?" Hyde replied, "Bollocks to it, I'll just swim after the wanker!" Hyde replied.

"I outta..." Popeye began, hands balling up into fists.

"Knock it off." Dudley said, "We've got to help Jeep and Olive...for I am an officer of the law..."

The group piled into Popeye's boat and Popeye put it in gear, as they headed straight down the Hurricane River.

The boat picked up speed and headed down a gorge of rapidly moving water. "Bluto's crazy enough to go through THIS!?" Samantha shouted as the group was thrown around the pilot house of the boat.

Popeye stayed calmly around his helm, expertly navigating the rapids as the rapids jolted them around. "Popeye, I hope you know what you're doing." Bryce replied as the boat bounced down a small water fall, jolting Bryce against a bulkhead.

Waves bounced over the bow of the boat as Popeye gunned the engines. At times the bow was underwater. Samantha could see Popeye had a certain single minded determination as he pursued Bluto and Ludlow.

"Please tell me when it's over..." Hyde moaned, looking green.

"What's the matter, landlubber, sea sick..." Bryce replied.

"Bryce, you're an ex-Army guy." Samantha reminded.

"Yeah, but I started out in the Navy before transferring into the Army." Bryce replied, "So I do have my sea legs."

The boat passed under a grounded ship, leaking water from several pipes, drenching Popeye's boat and several of its occupants.

The sound of a cannon firing drew their attention. A large steel ball splashed into the water just to the port side of the boat.

"That can't be good for his boat." Bryce replied, "If it's a powerful cannon and that's a wooden boat, she'll start to crack and splinter in these rapids right about..."

"I hope that thing cracks before Bluto's aim improves." Samantha replied.

BOOM. A cannonball sailed right over their heads.

CRASH! The sound of wood creaking, groaning and finally snapping could be heard. As they rounded a bend a woman's gasp and scream could be heard. "Popeye! Help!"

"I'm coming Olive!" Popeye shouted. Popeye grabbed a can from the folds of his shirt, "Bryce, take the helm."

Bryce grabbed the large ship's wheel as they rounded a bend, bumping over some more jarring rapids. "Bryce, now I see why you transferred out of the Navy to the Army." Samantha remarked.

Popeye snatched his Spinach can and began to eat the contents when the boat shook violently.

"Did you hit something?" Dudley asked.

"I don't think so." Bryce replied as a large tentacle crossed the bow.

Popeye jumped from the boat towards a rock where he'd seen Bluto trying to plant a big kiss on Olive's lips. Bluto's eyes were closed so he did not see that he was about to kiss a large fish...

"Where's Ludlow..." Samantha said, as she began to step towards the pilot house door, "..And Jeep?"

"Samantha, with that big octopus out there I wouldn't..." Bryce began.

"Bryce..." Samantha began before she was bodily lifted out onto the roof of the pilot house of the boat. Standing on top of the pilothouse was none other than Peter Ludlow. His clothing was torn in several places, what looked like an expensive Armani suit was clearly ruined. About half his skin had turned black, one eye had turned into a yellow, glowing orb, antennae poked from his forehead.

"One false move, Lightfoot and I break her neck." Ludlow said, "Despite the rather, ah, unpleasant cosmetic changes I've undergone, the enormous strength I enjoy now is a huge advantage."

Samantha felt her feet dangling several feet off the ground, saw her vision start to blur as Ludlow's hand was around her neck, applying pressure.

"Go ahead and try it Ludlow..." Bryce replied, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that Hyde was creeping up on Ludlow from beind but severely enraged.

"Really," Ludlow began, "You'd allow such a waste to..."

"RRAAGGGHH!!!!" Hyde roared, enraged, as he tackled Ludlow from the side.

Ludlow, surprised, promptly let go of Samantha. Bryce ran underneath her, catching her in his arms. "Are you alright?" Bryce asked.

Samantha nodded. "Get inside the cabin and lock the door..." Bryce began.

"Bryce, I'm not some weepy damsel in distress constantly needing..." Samantha began.

"Can we argue about this later?" Bryce replied.

"Jeep! Jeep!" Jeep shrieked in alarm, hanging from inside a fishing net, on top of one off the smoke stacks.

"Can you give me a boost?" Samantha said, "I think I can reach him if I had some help..."

"Sure." Bryce replied, crouching low and cupping Samantha's right foot. He pushed upward, and Samantha grabbed a hold of the only ladder rung on the smoke stack, holding on for dear life until Bryce walked underneath her, allowing her to get footing on his shoulders.

Samantha tugged at the net, feeling the boat sway under the rapids and the octopus' gripping. "It's OK, I've got you..." Samantha began.

"Jeep..." Jeep said, as it looked down at the deck below.

"It's OK, I won't let you fall." Samantha replied. Jeep was out of the net but steadfastly refusing to let go of it, for fear of falling.

"Trust me..." Samantha said.

Jeep let go, falling into Samantha's arms before Bryce crouched lower, and helped them get down there

Meanwhile Hyde and Ludlow were grappling each other. Ludlow wrapped a massive Heartless hand around Hyde's neck. Hyde yanked on Ludlow's growing antennae, causing a shriek of pain from the half-Heartless.

Ludlow kicked up with one knee, driving it into Hyde's groin. Hyde doubled over in pain as Ludlow flipped him onto his back, strangling Hyde with overwhelming strength. Any second now Hyde would be dead and...

Ludlow felt a hard metal object jammed against his skull, the barrel of an AK-47, "Choke on this..." Bryce began, emptying an entire clip into the Ludlow-Heartless' skull, sending black blood and bone fragments flying everwhere.

Meanwhile, Popeye had just landed a devastating blow onto Bluto's chin, knocking him out. Olive kissed Popeye on the cheek and Popeye declared, "I'm strong to the finish because I eat my spinach..."

"Popeye, look." Olive began, "It looks like Bluto dropped something..."

---

_**Chaos affects not only this world, but many other worlds besides. **_

_**In the "Ansem Reports" my apprentice Xehanort had written under my name, I found the records of his hideous experiments along with his hypothesis about the door that had appeared out of the darkness in the basement. **_

_**All living things have hearts, and all hearts hold darkness deep within. **_

_**Worlds are no exception. If a world is a being, the heart it holds must be colossal… **_

…_**and the darkness at its core must be monstrous indeed. **_

_**Did Xehanort pass through that door in an attempt to contact that dark realm? **_

_**No, not only Xehanort. **_

_**It appears my other five apprentices, believing it was for the sake of research, stared deep into the darkness and were pulled into it. **_

_**Even, Ienzo, Bleig, Dilin, and Eleus… **_

_**They have ceased to be human. **_

_**I, too, have had everything taken away from me, banished to a hollow realm of nothingness. **_

_**What is Xehanort hoping to gain with my pilfered existence? **_

_**Will my people cease to smile? **_

_**If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend. **_

_**Here, in the realm of nothingness to which I have been relegated. **_

_**Darkness is the midst of nothing. **_

"_**Darkness in Zero." **_

_**Thus, I shall be known as DiZ. **_

---

Several hours later, Bryce, Samantha and Hyde were with the others in Brainstine's lab. "Bryce, why are you rubbing your shoulder?" Olive asked.

"Samantha." Bryce replied.

Overhearing this, Samantha replied, "I don't weigh that much."

"It wasn't weight that bothered me at all." Bryce replied, "It was the fact that however much you weigh was concentrated on the heels of those damned pumps of yours..."

"It's time you men feel the pain high heels cause women." Samantha replied.

Hyde laughed brusquely. Bryce glared at him.

"So what was this document?" Olive asked.

"It is yet another secret Ansem report." Bryce replied.

"Ansem report?" Olive asked, "What's going on here?"

"There's something serious going on with your world, and maybe mine too." Samantha began. "This report might hold the key to stopping them."

"We're helping to try and stop them." Bryce replied.

"Then we wish you good luck." Brainstine replied, "And to be on your way, to save our world, and all of our worlds..."

---

"Crazy, isn't it." Bryce commented, as they waited on the shoreline.

"What do you mean?" Samantha asked.

"If it hadn't been for that nutjob, Cole, the three of us would never have met one another." Bryce replied.

"Where would you be right now if we weren't here?" Samantha asked.

"Probably providing security for some pissant mining company executive." Bryce replied, "You?"

Samantha felt a slight pang inside, "My boyfriend Tyler and my old college roommates Amanda and Lauren were coming to San Francisco when Cole brought me over here."

"How long were you with him?" Bryce asked.

"All four years at Great Northern University, he was the freshman quarterback for the GNU Huskies." Samantha replied, "What about you, Bryce, are you married, with someone...?"

"I live on my own." Bryce replied, "I guess the lifestyle of a private security contractor isn't exactly conducive to being with a woman."

Samantha could hear more than a twinge of regret in Bryce's voice. "Hey, if you're ever around San Francisco just give me a call..."

"You sure Tyler won't mind?" Bryce asked.

"You're incorrigible, do you know that?" Samantha asked.

"I doubt the wanker knows what incorrigible is..." Hyde remarked sourly. _Any second now I could easily snap 'is neck...Wait, why am I feeling all this jealousy towards Bryce...It's obvious, she's paying 'im more mind..._

"I'm smarter than I look." Bryce replied.

"Well, it seems you three are managing..." Cole said as he appeared in a shimmer.

"So what's our next quest." Samantha replied.

"To an island of heroes of inhuman strength and skill. Heartless and Nobodies darken their skies still..." Cole said as he began to vanish...

---

**TBC: Up next our heroes visit an island where heroes from the Marvel realm make their homes...**


	6. Marvel Superhero Island

**Marvel Superhero Island**

**Disclaimer: Same as before, the character of Mr. Hyde is the intellectual property of Robert Lewis Stevenson, G.I. Joe isn't my creation, neither are the Misfits or any other crossover folks I have neglected to mention. BTW the X-men of this island are from the X-men movies. **

**RFKC - Samantha and Bryce are going back to the Misfitverse where they originally come from.**

**---**

"So you were wrong about Ansem, Bryce." Samantha began, as she put down the report, "DiZ is actually Ansem..."

"Congratulations to you, Samantha Grayson..." came a voice. DiZ appeared before them.

"You!" Bryce snapped, "You created these things..."

"Don't be so judgmental, Bryce." DiZ replied.

"Judgmental my ass." Bryce replied, "You created the Heartless and then caused them to wreak havoc..."

"Bryce, calm down!" Samantha shouted, "Ansem did create the Heartless, but when he saw what he was doing was wrong he tried to make amends...his former assistants are responsible..."

"He was still the root of the problem." Bryce countered.

"Go ahead and shoot me, Bryce." DiZ replied, "If you think a bullet can equal the effect of the Great Darkness."

"Great Darkness?" Samantha asked.

"Are you familiar with the Yin and the Yang?" DiZ replied.

"The light and the darkness." Bryce replied, "Any first year student of philosophy knows of it."

"Darkness exists wherever there is light, Bryce." DiZ replied.

"Yes, your experiments, as your reports indicate, show that." Bryce snapped back, "You knew it, yet you chose to try and bring it out in people."

"I am trying to atone for it, Bryce." DiZ said with a dangerous tone, "And do not forget I hold the key to getting you out of here. Do not forget that darkness lurks in you as well..."

DiZ gestured towards Bryce.

_Karbala, Iraq, 2004: Bryce didn't care that he had been up for the past forty hours, with maybe a few stolen moments sleep in between. The fact that Kilo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Division had clearly been in battle was written on the faces of its soldiers. _

_Bryce's M4 Carbine hung from its tactical sling, tucked under his arm as he walked about the building _

_Kilo Company now occupied. _

_The eyes of a young soldier glassy and sunken from very little sleep peered out from beneath his helmet, regarded the soldier's commander. A cigarette, lit and half burnt hung from his mouth as he carried his _

_M294 SAW in both hands. _

"_We kicked their ass today, Franklin, don't forget it." Bryce said, "You saved your buddies today..." _

_The soldier barely regarded his leader, with scarcely a nod as he lumbered off to get some sleep. Franklin sat with his back against the brick wall, simply undoing his load bearing vest and Interceptor flak vest _

_before collapsing into a stupor like sleep._

_Bryce walked down towards the aid station, where he knew some men from First Platoon, who had been ambushed shortly after a roadside IED had taken down one of their trucks. He walked in amongst the medics who were treating the wounded._

_Some of the worst were the burn victims. The ones whose clothing clung grotesquely to what remained of their skin. The ones whose skin came off in clumps. The medics were assisting the battalion surgeon and his staff. The stench of charred meat invaded his nostrils as Bryce surveyed the half dozen beds that held six of his men. Two of them were barely eighteen, barely out of high school. _

_**God, let me kill the bastards responsible for all this. **Bryce thought. _

_Two weeks later: The insurgent's eyes were pain filled, the fact that five or six 5.56mm rounds were imbedded in his vitals at various places having something to do with that. Bryce stood over the man, who was muttering something in Arabic through a haze of pain. As he took a squad through the building to try and fight their way to a patrol under fire, the man had popped out with an AK-47. Bryce fired his M4 Carbine several times, and the insurgent fell dead._

_Bryce stood over the man. It would be so easy to do. Raise his weapon, level it on the forehead, squeeze off a single round...**That's murder...That's right, fucker, I'm judge, jury and executioner...You killed or maimed several of my guys, I'll kill you in revenge...no no, hell no. I'll leave you for the fucking rats.**_

"Bryce?" Samantha began, noticing Bryce's faroff look.

"It was so easy...all I had to do was flick up my wrist..." Bryce began.

"Bryce, quit spacin' out..." Hyde began.

"What's going on?" Samantha asked and then turned to DiZ, "What are you doing to him...?"

"Merely letting him see that darkness exists in all...perhaps he won't be so judgemental then." DiZ replied and gestured again.

Bryce found himself looking at a very concerned Samantha. "Bryce, what happened?"

"Just a few memories I'd rather not bring up." Bryce replied._ I didn't kill that man. I just left him for the rats...so I didn't murder him..._

Samantha didn't want to press the issue, but she could feel that whatever memory that DiZ made Bryce relive was certainly unpleasant.

"We'd better get going." Bryce began, hefting his AK and leading the other two towards the boat, towards

the next island.

---

He heard and smelled the intruders long before he heard them coming. There were three of them, human, two male one female. There certainly were a large number of strange people (if he could imagine the gray contortionist monsters were people) turning up. He had tangled with more than his fair share of them. He

moved down the coastline, now he could see them. One brutally over muscled male, a hulking fellow wearing the tattered remnants of an English gentleman's suit and a top hat. The other was some sort of Native American, by the cinnabar tone of his skin and his dark hair, wielding an AK-47. The third was a

young woman, auburn haired, attractive in her white blouse and short, hip hugging black skirt and pumps.

The gunman was clearly the most dangerous of the three. The big brute he could deal with. Compared to his battles with Sabertooth, fights with so called 'big tough guys' tended to be like beating up on kindergarten teachers.

He had to find out who the hell they were. "Wolverine..." came the voice over his earpiece. _Damn Cyclops and your timing..._

"What's your position?" Cyclops asked.

"Trailing the trespassers now..." Wolverine said.

"Remember, just observe and..." Cyclops began.

_Ah stow it..._Wolverine thought. _A field interrogation always produces decent results. _

Already Wolverine was planning who he would spring upon. The gunman first.

---

Bryce saw the strange being at around the same time that the being leapt from behind the brush. He brought his AK to bear at closer range, managing to squeeze off three lucky shots. Two of them actually landed. The man in the black suit leapt upon him like a panther as they traded punches.

"I don't know who you are, bub, but we don't take kindly to intruders around here!" Wolverine replied.

"What, no yellow spandex." Bryce quipped as he dodged a right hook and swung an uppercut into Logan's midsection.

"Bugger off mate!" Hyde began as he tackled Wolverine.

Wolverine swung an adamantium backed fist into Hyde's midsection, causing the big brute to double over. Before Wolverine could do anything else, however, Hyde charged forward, in a low stance, grabbing Wolverine around the legs and pulling him to the ground.

Samantha reared back as she watched Hyde grapple with the strange, wild haired man in a black suit. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a canister of pepper spray. Since the spate of sexual assaults on campus the year before she graduated, her boyfriend Tyler had always insisted she carry it. She leveled it

towards the combatants and let loose a stream.

"YEAAGGHH!!" Hyde bellowed as the spray struck him as well as Wolverine, who also began to roll about on the ground, feeling like his face was on fire. It was only temporary, however. His healing factor already had meant that the pepper spray had no effect. The hulking muscleman that was wrestling, however, was really suffering the worst of the spray's effect. He was rolling about on the ground, tearing at his face.

Bryce took advantage of the situation to throw himself at Logan. He wasn't about to let him harm Samantha and...

"Wolverine! Enough!" came a shout.

Wolverine stepped away from the Native American as a slim, brown haired fellow wearing a strange looking visor on his eyes and clad in the same black jumpsuit as Bryce's attacker. Beside him was a red haired, attractive woman also clad in a black jumpsuit.

"Bloody 'ell! Wot wos t'at!?" Hyde shouted, still rolling around on the ground.

"That's called pepper spray." Bryce replied, and unable to resist he said, "They use it to fend off creeps."

"And who are..." Samantha began, "Wait a second I recognize you guys. You're the X-men...just a bit older."

Scott Summers froze in his tracks just then.

"Yes we are the X-men, and what do you mean older?" Scott replied.

Bryce stood up shakily, smarting from the fight with Logan, "As in being thirty-something as opposed to twenty-one."

"Logan," Jean replied cattily, "Just how hard did you hit our friend with the gun..."

"Who are you guys?" Scott asked.

"We're just passing through." Bryce replied.

"Like those gray contortionist monsters that have been appearing all over the place? Are they passing through, bub?" Wolverine asked.

"The Nobodies are no friends of ours either." Samantha replied.

"Look, this is going to take a while to explain..." Bryce began

"Then let's go somewhere where you can explain all of this." Scott replied.

----

**Xavier Institute: **"So let me get this straight. You two," Scott began, pointing at Samantha and Bryce, "Are from a world where Jean and I are barely in our twenties...Jean's studying in New York while I'm leading the X-men out of Bayville and we have to deal with a group of former followers of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants called the Misfits..."

"In a nutshell." Bryce remarked.

"And incidentally these 'Misfits' come over just about every day, consume massive quantities of our food, tie up our phone lines and run up enormous phone bills and rack up the insurance rates," Scott continued as Bryce nodded to confirm each item, "Not to mention that they also cause massive damage to the surrounding area, continual plummeting of property values in an ever expanding radius, and frequent disruption of our students' daily lives?"

"Correct." Bryce replied.

"Yeah, the Xavier Institute in our world is a place of..." Samantha began, trying to be diplomatic, "Unique occurances."

"Unique?" Bryce replied, "I really wouldn't call it unique. Insane. Bizarre. And..."

Scott was glaring at Bryce like he wanted to blast a hole through him. "Believe me, mate, I know how you feel..." Hyde began.

"I was talking about the Xavier Institute from our world. It sounds like some things never change...you know the government file on you says that you have a 'perpetual stick up your...'." Bryce began.

"Bryce, there are children here." Samantha chided. Hyde guffawed.

"Mr. Lightfoot, Miss Grayson, Mr. Hyde..." Charles Xavier began, "What do these Heartless and Nobodies want with our world?"

"The Heartless, as far as we can tell, are seeking hearts of both worlds and of people." Bryce replied, "And there's the matter of the Nobodies. They're controlled by this group called Organization XIII..."

"And you're here to stop them?" Jean asked.

"No such luck." Bryce replied, "We're here to find out information about them. The word has it they're after our world next."

"But we'll help you." Samantha began, despite Bryce's annoyed state.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Bryce asked.

"Bryce, don't you see, every time we've helped people on the islands we visit, we find what we're looking for..." Samantha replied.

Bryce nodded, "Professor Xavier, are there others on your island, like yourselves, ones who'll help against the Organization..."

"There are other, I hesitate to use the term, superheroes on this island...but there are also villains as well. Villains who won't hesitate to align themselves with this Organization if they thought it would help their cause."

---

"And what is in it for us?" William Stryker asked of the three members of the Organization.

"Why everything that you desire," Zexion began.

"What's the catch?" Dr. Octopus said.

"No catch." Zexion said. _Except your hearts and the heart of your world..._

"And what are you willing to give us?" Stryker asked.

"For starters, thousands of unquestioning and loyal followers who will follow your every order." Zexion said. With a wave of his hand several Heartless and Nobodies appeared in the room, "These Shadows and Dusks are but a fraction of the power the Organization wields."

Electro laughed, "Those contortionists and dwarves are what you send to help us fight Spiderman, the X-men, and the Hulk? We have spent years fighting against them, with far greater powers and failed..."

"This will push things invariably in your favor." Zexion replied.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Electro replied.

"At the very least, they will come in handy for stealing the Anti-Gravity Cannon..." Dr. Octopus replied.

"What of Spiderman?" Hydroman remarked.

"The contortionists and dwarves, as Electro so delicately put it, will keep him distracted." Dr. Octopus replied.

"And the Hulk and the X-men?" Stryker added.

"They will be dealt with. If nothing else, the Heartless and Nobodies will be useful as cannon fodder." Octopus replied.

---

"So that's who was behind these strange monsters. This Organization XIII?" Spiderman replied. A few hours ago, via Cerebro, Xavier had sent out a message to all the superheroes living on the island.

"Exactly." Bryce replied. _Any second now..._Bryce thought.

"We have to stop them and..." Cyclops began.

Just then the sound of the Xavier Institute's perimeter alarms and automated defenses engaging could be heard.

Simultaneously the Mansion's television set turned on. "We interrupt your cheesy soap operas and sophomoric sitcoms to bring you news of true value." The image of a large man, with four metallic tentacles on his back, manipulating a strange looking gun with a glowing bore, could be seen, "We are taking the Statue of Liberty for a rather princely ransom..."

"We've got to stop them." Spiderman said.

"Agreed." The Hulk replied.

"We've got an equally big problem of several Heartless and Nobodies converging around this mansion." Bryce countered, as he spoke he checked both his AK and his Glock. He wasn't about to let those damned Heartless near the innocent children of this mansion.

"We have to keep the children safe." Ororo began.

It was then that the first of the Heartless and Nobodies smashed through the many windows and doors of the Mansion.

Bryce opened a hall closet and said to Samantha, "Stay here."

"Bryce..." Samantha protested.

"Don't argue." Bryce replied, closing the door.

Through the narrow slits of the closet door, Samantha could see Bryce turn towards the nearest window where a Shadow Heartless had just broken through. Bryce opened fire, hitting it with half a dozen rounds of 7.62 rounds.

Wolverine extended his claws, slashing at any nearby Heartless and Nobodies. His adamantium backed fists did just as much damage, shattering bones with great ease.

Cyclops blasted away at the Heartless with his optic blasts as more and more of the creatures flooded into the Mansion. A Soldier Heartless leapt onto Cyclops' back and began to claw at him.

"Bugger off!" Hyde shouted, grabbing the Heartless by both legs and bashing it against the nearest wall, smashing a hole through the drywall.

"I appreciate the help, but could you avoid destroying the surrounding area when you give someone a hand?" Cyclops replied.

"Bollocks you." Hyde replied as he body slammed another Heartless into a rather expensive Ming dynasty vase, smashing it into fragments.

"There you are." Bryce said.

"Where's Samantha?" Hyde asked.

"Stashed somewhere safe for now." Bryce replied, "We've got to get out of this place and find that report."

"Is that all you bloody care about, those stupid reports?" Hyde replied.

"If it gets us back to our worlds, yes." Bryce replied.

As the two men raced down the halls, superheroes were battling for their lives. The Beast wrestled a Large Body that had knocked Jean Grey down. Jean was struggling, shakily to her feet.

They ran towards the downstairs hall closet, where Bryce had left Samantha...

---

Samantha hated the fact that she was being kept hidden while Bryce and Hyde were risking their lives out there. But she knew she had to survive, had to write. _I know the pen is mightier than the sword, but I wish I knew how to use something to be more useful..._Samantha thought.

Samantha jumped backward as a sword from a Bandit Heartless smashed through the door. Almost immediately she heard a burst of gunfire that told her Bryce had to be in the area. The door was throw open and Samantha saw Bryce standing there, with Hyde right behind him.

"We're outta here." Bryce began.

Before Bryce could explain any further a shower of lights, bluish white orbs, appeared in front of them. Standing before them was a man in his early twenties, maybe a year older than Samantha. "Who the hell...?"

"No time to explain." the Whitelighter said, with a noticeably Australian accent.

"We're looking for the Ansem report." Samantha began, "We can't leave these people here..."

"Already taken care of, love." The Australian Whitelighter replied, waving the report.

"What about these people?" Bryce asked.

"They can take care of themselves." The Whitelighter said as he orbed himself and the three travelers back to where they had started.

---

"Alright, start talking." Bryce began, "Who are you and what was with pulling us off our mission early?"

"The name's Brumby." The Whitelighter replied.

"Unfortunately circumstances have accelerated our timetable." Cole said, as he nonchalantly walked into view.

"What about that world?" Samantha asked.

"What about it, indeed. If the hearts of its people are strong and do not fall to darkness, they'll throw the Heartless and Nobodies off eventually..." Cole replied.

"That looks like a big IF Cole." Bryce snapped back.

"It is of no consequence." Cole replied.

"It's a whole bloody world, mate!" Hyde replied.

"You have the information needed, do you not?" Cole replied.

"If you're talking about the Ansem report, yes we have it." Bryce replied.

"Good then you have the necessary resourcefulness needed to get yourselves out of here." Cole replied.

"What?" Samantha asked.

"You said you'd get us out of here." Bryce replied.

"If you were resourceful enough to carry out your tasks, you're resourceful enough to find your ways out of here." Cole replied, "I suggest you hurry."

As Cole and Brumby disappeared, the three travelers could make out the glowing eyes of many Heartless converging near their position.

"Where do we go?" Samantha said.

"Anywhere but here." Bryce replied, shoving her behind him, "Go, I'll take care of them."

Bryce promptly dropped to one knee and fired short bursts from his AK-47 as Samantha and Hyde ran. As the rifle ran dry, Bryce pulled his Glock from its holster and kept up the withering fire, killing any Heartless that got too close before running to catch up with Samantha and Hyde. Bryce jammed another magazine into the AK as he ejected the spent magazine. He yanked the charging handle back, and then ducked behind a low stone wall, shooting at the pursuing Heartless.

"Bryce!" Samantha shouted.

"Go, I'll pile 'em up and then catch up with you guys." Bryce shouted back.

"'e's cer'ainly got courage..." Hyde remarked.

"It's not doing him any good if he gets himself killed..." Samantha remarked as she and Hyde ducked behind the walls of a ruined house. It was then that the shooting stopped.

"Oh no..." Samantha whimpered, certain that Bryce had just gotten himself killed.

---

**The distant days spent in that beautiful paradise are an illusion to me now. **

**How long have I been here, banished to the realm of nothingness? **

**It is only by relying upon my anger and hatred that I have been able to retain my sense of self here, where all existence is nullified. **

**My heart is being overcome with hatred toward my apprentices, possessed by the darkness, and with the anger I feel for stupidly allowing myself to be betrayed. **

**Is this darkness, eating away at my heart? **

**I cannot continue to idle away my time here. **

**What are Xehanort and the others attempting to do? **

**I must unravel the mystery of these Ansem Reports, intercept my apprentices, and defeat them. **

**That is my mission…the only way to repay the world for my sins. **

**Those beings who lack hearts—the Heartless—must be the key. **

**The darkness of the heart, made flesh. Cursed shadows who not only lack hearts, but multiply by seizing hearts from any and all living things. **

**Where have they come from, and where are they going? **

**Three elements combine to create life: a heart, a soul, and a body. **

**But what of the soul and body left behind when the heart is lost? **

**When the soul leaves the body, its vessel, life gives way to death, but what about when the heart leaves? **

**A being does not perish when its heart leaves its body. The heart alone disappears into the darkness. **

**There is little time. **

**If I remain in this realm much longer, I will certainly learn these answers the hard way. **

**My heart is already a captive of the darkness.**

**---**

"That was good of you to shorten our heroes' quest, Brumby." Nigel began, "But that was most unwise to get directly involved. The Elders don't know we're mixed up in this whole lot."

"Can't have those Elders learn that two of their Whitelighters are mixed up with a former demon..." Cole replied with a sardonic grin.

"That was still a load of bollocks to leave Samantha, Bryce, and Hyde out there." Brumby remarked.

"If they find the Chamber of the Traveler they'll be able to find their way home." Cole remarked.

"That's assuming they know how or where to find it." Brumby argued.

"I know that leaving people behind is a sore point for you, Brumby." Cole replied, "But you have to conceal your involvement from the Elders."

"It's more than a sore point, Cole." Brumby argued.

"Please forgive Brumby for acting so impulsively. He's barely begun to be a Whitelighter." Nigel replied.

"Nonetheless..." Cole began.

"I died to make sure that my mates got to the ships before the Japanese could get to them. That's why I hate leaving people behind." Brumby countered, "I'm not about to leave another group of people trapped."

Brumby orbed away as Nigel said, "Damn it..."

---

**TBC (This fic still has one more chapter yet)**

**Just to inform you: Brumby isn't a red herring OC. I'll go into further detail as to who this mystery Whitelighter is in future fics...bit of a spoiler, he'll be the Guardian Angel of a certain Keyblade Wielder to be... **


	7. Epilogue: Ich Hatt'einen Kameraden

**Epilogue: Ich Hatt'einen Kameraden**

**Disclaimer: As always recognizable franchises are not owned by me. The Pit and G.I. Joe will have further involvement in future parts of the Apostasy sereis. I intended this fic to introduce my O.C.s (Samantha and Bryce) to the G.I. Joe and later the Misfitverse. At the very end I'll be alluding to yet another '80s cartoon and potential point for crossover.**

**Nigel: I'd like to point out to RoguefanKC that I'm British, not Australian...So there's no way Brumby is another me. There's only one of me afoot...**

**---**

"Oh no..." Samantha whimpered, almost certain Bryce had gotten himself killed.

Almost a heartbeat or two later Bryce leapt through the window of the ruined house, his AK in one hand, and his Glock in the other, both weapons out of ammunition.

"I thought you were dead." Samantha began, relieved.

Bryce reloaded both his weapons and said, "We're likely to be dead soon if we don't get the hell out of here."

Just then a shower of orbs appeared before them. "You again!" Hyde replied and promptly punched Brumby in the face.

"Alright, I may have deserved that one, mate. Let me make it up to you." Brumby replied, "Find the Chamber of the Traveler and..."

"Great, more vague clues." Hyde snapped.

"Let me give you the bloody directions, mate." Brumby replied.

"Where is this Chamber of the Traveler?" Samantha asked.

"A hidden chamber under Scheherezade's old palace, to the north." Brumby replied.

"Right to where the Heartless are coming from." Bryce replied.

"Nobody said this would be easy, mate." Brumby countered.

"How can we trust you?" Bryce replied.

"Put it this way, mate, do you have any other choice?" Brumby replied.

"Why are you helping us?" Samantha asked.

"Easy, Sheila, I really detest the idea of leaving people behind." Brumby replied, "It never sat well with me..."

"The name's Samantha, not Sheila..." Samantha replied.

"No, Sheila's what we call girls down under." Brumby replied before he orbed away.

"Can we trust 'im?" Hyde asked.

"Put it this way, do we have a choice." Bryce replied, grimly as he searched the floor.

"What are you looking for?" Samantha asked.

"A tunnel, if we can get into the sewer system, maybe we can avoid fighting. My ammo's starting to run low." Bryce replied.

"Here's one." Hyde replied, as they ducked down the tunnel, heading North towards the Chamber of the Traveler.

---

"I don't suppose you know how to activate any of this equipment?" Samantha asked as they peered around the large stone chamber, with numerous strange forms of machinery and four ancient statues.

"Unfortunately no." Bryce replied.

Scheherazade appeared before them just then, "I believe I can help. The statues have machines in them to activate the portal to your dimension."

"Well, complex though it is, at least there aren't any Heartless around. We gave them the slip..." Bryce began.

The sounds of several Heartless coming down the tunnels could be heard. "You spoke a bit too soon mate." Hyde replied.

"We're doing no good by just yammering." Bryce replied, dropping behind cover and engaging the first two Heartless that appeared with a burst of gunfire from his AK-47, "Samantha, go with Scheherazade and start the equipment. We'll hold the Heartless off."

Samantha wordlessly nodded as Bryce fired more rounds, killing several more Heartless. She headed for the first of four large statues, and began to fiddle around with some levers at Scherazade's direction. "Got one."

"Good. Hurry and get the others." Bryce shouted as he reloaded.

"This isn't like warming up my PC back home." Samantha retorted, "There's some tricks to it."

"Hurry up and figure them out." Bryce shouted as he fired the last of a magazine into a NeoShadow that leapt towards him. The creature lay on the ground twitching as Bryce pulled out his Glock and shot it in the head, "I'm almost out of rounds."

"Just buy me some time." Samantha replied.

Hyde twisted the neck of a Soldier Heartless that was about to jump onto Bryce's back and claw him to death and threw the limp corpse into a trio of charging Shadows. Bryce tossed one of two grenades he had left onto the three Shadows.

"Watch your back, Bryce." Hyde replied.

Bryce nodded in reply and fired some more bursts of gunfire, short controlled bursts that killed or crippled Heartless whenever he squeezed the trigger. He flicked the selector switch to single fire, the situation was getting to where full auto might not be the best option. _Three magazines left, God, Samantha please figure this technology out..._

Samantha raced to the second statue, the one closest to the entrance. She could see Bryce aiming and firing rapidly at Heartless advancing into the chamber, together with several Nobodies. Hyde was grappling with a Neoshadow.

Another Neoshadow leapt towards her just then only to be drop kicked by Hyde, who let out a feral roar as he stomped on the creature's neck. The sound of bones crunching could be heard echoing loudly. Hyde threw himself into another fight, with another deranged howl, tackling a third Soldier Heartless, who inflicted several scratches. Bryce put his weapon to the creature's temple and squeezed off one round, killing it instantly.

Samantha, with shaking hands threw the second series of switches as Bryce and Hyde continued to try and hold off the attacking Heartless. The tip of the spear held in the statue's hand began to glow a faint blue shade and a shaft of blue light extended outward towards the center of the room, above the large stone pool. It joined the first shaft of blue light and a glowing translucent sphere began to form. She ran to the third statue, just as Bryce swung his AK, sending the steel backed wooden stock into the side of a Neoshadow's skull.

She ran to the third statue, again throwing the series of switches in a sequence. Samantha saw Hyde lob a loose rock at a cluster of Heartless, crushing several of them, but still the kept coming. So many Heartless and Nobodies lay shot up or broken in several pieces all about the place that their living comrades had to climb over them.

Bryce had his Glock out and was squeezing off shots, accurate head and chest shots that resulted in kills. _Down to my last magazine, both weapons, Samantha, for God's sake, hurry..._

Samantha raced, faster than she ever ran towards the next statue, again throwing the switches in the proper sequence and the fourth shaft of light joined, and the sphere glowed brightly. However the chamber shook violently, sending debris falling everywhere.

Samantha raced over to Bryce, "I've got it open."

"Good, get through it." Bryce replied, as another tremor hit, "By the look of things it doesn't look like this building's gonna hold out that much longer."

"What about the reports?" Samantha said.

"I'll hold on to them." Bryce replied, "I'll make sure that the right people will know about the threat of the Heartless and Nobodies."

"What about everyone else?" Samantha asked.

"We'll take care of them. Just go through." Bryce replied.

"Will you make sure that people know about the Heartless?" Samantha asked.

"Yes." Bryce replied, "In you go."

"Will I ever see you again?" Samantha asked.

"Probably not." Bryce replied.

"Goodbye." Samantha said, with a sudden flood of emotion as she jumped into the portal and was gone.

"Alright, 'o's next?" Hyde asked.

"You go next, I'll cover you." Bryce replied.

"Bollocks mate, you've got those reports." Hyde replied, "You've got the actual proof that we went through all this."

"I doubt this chamber is going to hold for more than one more jump." Bryce replied, when Samantha had gone through, the chamber shook more violently, causing more debris to rain down.

"In you go!" Hyde shouted, practically shoving Bryce into the portal.

It was just then that another tremor struck and the portal vanished. More Nobodies and Heartless flooded into the chamber. Hyde flexed his hands and muscles, briefly remembering his two traveling companions and all the times they had shared. He had allowed them to return to their world, and now it was time to go out to the great beyond, to atone for the crimes he had committed long before he had met Samantha and Bryce.

"Come on you bastards!" Hyde growled as he picked up a section of bronze piping, "Get what's coming to you..."

Hyde allowed himself to be fully in thrall of his animalistic and violent side as he flung himself straight into the mass of Heartless and Nobodies, fighting with wild abandon, ignoring wounds inflicted and smashing bones and tearing flesh. He was going to die, he was sure, but not without killing as many of the bastards attacking him as he possibly could.

---

"Lightfoot?" Footloose said, as he saw the CIA man heading towards their perimeter, looking seriously knackered and definitely the worst for wear.

"Yeah, it's me." Bryce replied, "Get Chuckles and Falcon over here quick. You guys aren't going to believe this..."

**Several hours later: **"You're right, Bryce, it's unbelievable." Chuckles replied.

"I hardly believed it happened myself. How long was I missing?" Bryce asked.

"About half a day, which is puzzling." Falcon replied, "According to your watch, you've been gone for three days."

"It had to have been that weird chamber we were in." Bryce replied, "That dimensional travel machine had to have sent me back somewhere near the time I went missing."

"And what about this other person that was with you, the journalist?" Falcon asked.

"Her name was Samantha Grayson." Bryce replied.

"I looked her up on our computer database, it's all right here." Chuckles replied, "Samantha Julia Grayson. Twenty-two years old. Graduated near the top of her class from Great Northern University's Randall School of Journalism, new reporter for the Bay Mirror...Sounds like a classic Lois Lane type..."

Bryce glared at Chuckles.

"I'm gonna start writing that report, Langley's gonna want some questions answered." Bryce replied.

"Get some rest first," Tucker said, "You look like hell, Bryce."

"I'll be fine." Bryce replied.

"Go get some sleep." Tucker replied, "Write that report tomorrow. I'll let Langley know everything you've told us."

Bryce lumbered across the compound towards the small hut where the CIA paramilitaries had taken residence. He checked both his weapons over, stripping them down and cleaning them as he sat on his cot, before reassembling both AK and Glock.

He took off his boots and socks, putting them on a clothes line running through the middle of the room. He thought back on the past three days events, already missing having Samantha and Hyde around. _Strange how I bonded with those two after only three days. _

Alone in the small hut, Bryce wondered if Hyde had gotten away. _Probably not. _Hyde had proven to have somewhat controlled his wild, supposedly evil, half. In fact Hyde had grown to be a trusted companion.

"Ich hatt'einen Kameraden." Bryce silently sang to himself, remembering word for word the old German song to commemorate the fallen, "Einen bessern findst du nit. Die Trommel schlug zum Streite, er ging an meiner Seite. In gleichem Schritt und Tritt. In gleichem Schritt und Tritt..."

_Fitting song to commemorate Mr. Hyde. Ich Hatt'einen Kameraden, the dirge for the fallen. _Bryce thought, _In the end you proved yourself, and you saved my life._

"Eine Kugel kam geflogen: Gilt's mir oder gilt es dir? Ihn hat es weggerissen, Er liegt vor meinen Füßen. Al war's ein Stuck von mir. Al war's ein Stuck von mir..." Bryce continued, "Will mir die Hand noch reichen, Derweil ich eben lad. "Kann dir die Hand nicht geben, Bleib du im we'gen Leben, Mein guter Kamerad! Mein guter Kamerad!"

"To a loyal, if somewhat contentious comrade." Bryce reflected. His thoughts turned to Samantha just then._ I wonder how Samantha's doing back in San Francisco. _

_Probably back with her boyfriend, what was his name again, Taylor or Tyler or something like that. _Bryce thought. _Very likely enjoying her new life, probably gonna go around and get married, pump out the two point five kids and live in a house with the white picket fence. _Bryce felt a stab of hurt as he thought of that. Strange how a couple days with the girl caused him to bond with her.

_Hell a few years ago she'd have been the sort of girl I'd have put the A-game on for...Well, hey, no use musing on the one that got away..._Bryce thought before he fell asleep.

---

"My God Samantha, you look exhausted." Phoebe said.

"I'm not really feeling well..." Samantha replied.

"Where were you?" Phoebe asked.

"I was feeling sick." Samantha replied, "I think I've caught that bug that's been going around. How long was I gone?"

"About half an hour." Phoebe said, touching Samantha's arm.

**_Phoebe felt that familiar feeling that came with a vision. She could see Samantha together with a large, overmuscled fellow standing over six and a half feet tall and a swarthy fellow wearing a gray sweater, jeans, hiking boots and carrying an AK-47 with some webbing on his shoulders talking to...Cole. He's still alive..._**

"Come on," Phoebe said, "I'll get you home."

"Thanks." Samantha said, looking wan and tired, "But I've got that fashion show to cover..."

"I'll help you. I'll take some notes and you can write the article from there." Phoebe replied, reluctant to leave Samantha out of her sight.

Shortly after Phoebe had dropped her off at home, Samantha lay in bed, sipping a warm cup of tea. _Hard to believe that I befriended those two so quickly. I wonder what Bryce is up to right now? Probably back at that silver mine in Mexico, providing security. He seems like a nice enough guy, but there was something else about him..._

There was a knock on the door and Samantha walked over and looked through the spy hole. She forgot her tiredness as she saw Amanda Walker and Lauren Callahan, her former college roommates and best friends. She opened the door and threw her arms around each of them.

After they disentangled themselves from each other, Amanda said, "We have a surprise for you..."

"Oh, what's that?" Samantha replied.

"Oh he's a senior at GNU, the star quarterback, eyes of blue, great smile, wavy blonde hair..." Amanda said with a smile.

Tyler McManaway walked around the corner right then and Samantha practically flung herself into his arms. After a brief kiss, Tyler said, "Happy to see me?"

"Very much..." Samantha replied.

---

"It seems too incredulous to be true." Flint said as he perused the document coming from the Mexico Area of Operations called the Lightfoot Report.

"What do we know about Mr. Lightfoot?" Hawk asked.

"He's currently a member of the CIA's Special Activities Division. Before that he was a company commander with the First Infantry Division, after a short tour with the US Navy as a surface warfare officer." Flint replied.

"He doesn't sound like the type to make false claims." Duke replied, "Which is why I'm surprised that the Jugglers dismissed his report...There was too much evidence to support his claim, and not just the Secret Ansem Reports which the CIA promptly classified. Not to mention the fact that almost all of his ammunition had been expended. And that his watch was three days ahead."

"Which is why I'm not surprised that the Jugglers dismissed his report. Especially considering that Eddington recommended that Lightfoot be dismissed from the CIA." Hawk replied, "And that his signature was on the form that vetoed this report. It seems like their trying to bury him under a mound of bullshit and bureaucracy to keep the truth from coming out."

"So what about this other witness, Samantha Grayson?" Flint asked.

"She's back in San Francisco, we're trying to see if we have any operatives there who can make contact with her." Duke replied, "If the CIA doesn't first."

"This is yet another paranormal occurrence that's come about since we first discovered the Heartless." Flint replied.

"Recently the Chest of Demons has gone missing as well." Duke added, "Our listening post in Tibet recorded sightings of black hooded figures coming into the temple of Vincent Van Ghoul."

"Looks like the old Mystery Group is about to be active, yet again." Flint replied, "Chasing 13 of the most terrifying ghosts around the world."

"Just what we need, a bunch of meddling kids and a couple Great Danes running around chasing ghosts." Duke replied.

"They're a good bit older than the bunch of meddling kids they were, Duke." Flint replied.

"Either way, another group that needs watching." Duke replied, "Looks like the Intel folks are gonna be busy with this one..."

---

"We have the Chest of Demons, but there is a snag. A Nobody cannot open it. Only a human can." Vexen said as he spoke to Eddington and several assembled villains.

"That can be arranged." Eddington began.

"No, that is not your part of the fight, Eddington. There are human enemies you must face. Threats to our cause..." Vexen replied.

"We've already suppressed the Lightfoot Report." Eddington replied peevishly.

"We're not talking about the Lightfoot Report, but I appreciate your prompt action to the matter." Vexen replied.

"Then what are you referring to. Certainly not the mutants." Stryker replied, "My FOH teams are dispatching any that we find, despite the intervention of the X-men, Misfits, and Incredibles."

"I refer to the witches. Not just the Charmed Ones, but witches in general pose a threat to your quest. Eliminate them, and the way will be cleared." Vexen replied.

"It will be difficult." another voice sounded, "But not impossible."

An dark haired man in his forties walked into the room. "The name is Agent Jackman. The Charmed Ones and I have had our encounters and I am familiar with the ways of hunting witches. The Purity Faction will be more than happy to assist and moreover provide no trace of your involvement in our operations."

"That's all well and good, but what do you stand to gain?" Eddington asked.

"Why revenge against the Charmed Ones. What better way to hurt the most powerful of witches than to cull the numbers of other witches, force them to chase down bands of witch hunters..." Jackman replied, with a predatory grin.

---

**Finish...**

**In case you missed the last reference in Chapter Four, Bryce is half German and half Native American (Arapaho specifically).**

**Also here's a rough translation to what Bryce was singing: **

**In battle he was my comrade,  
None better I have had.  
The drum called us to fight,  
He always on my right,  
: In step, through good and bad. : **

**A bullet it flew towards us,  
For him or meant for me?  
His life from mine it tore,At my feet a piece of gore,  
: As if a part of me. : **

**His hand reached up to hold mine.  
I must re-load my gun.  
"My friend, I cannot ease your pain,  
In life eternal we'll meet again,  
: And walk once more as one." : **


End file.
